The Marriage Enchantment (Snape Finds Love Again)
by LeahHightower
Summary: This is a story about what I wish had happened to Severus Snape. Leah returns to Hogwarts to work in the infirmary, and encounters a man who always puzzled her. She knows there must be more to his story than his cold outward demeanor. When an enchantment puts them in an odd bind, she has to learn to navigate his brooding personality without letting her feelings grow... if she can.
1. Return to Hogwarts

Leah Hightower was deep in the throes of nostalgia. She had not set foot in Hogwarts since her N.E.W.T.s, and here she was walking the halls again, eight years later. She was carrying a professional-looking leather binder full of papers, and more than a bit excited that it was the first day of her new job. Every time Madam Pomfrey needed something, Leah volunteered to chase it down, each errand taking her to different parts of the castle where she could reminisce to herself about her time there, gawk at the students (was I ever that young? she asked herself) and gaze at familiar portraits and architecture.

She was still turning her head at every corner as her feet flew down the hall, her robes billowing out behind her. This particular errand took her deeper and deeper into the bottom of the castle, until at last she had reached the dungeon corridor. She shivered a little. On the upper floors she had felt so much older and stronger, but now here, even as a confident, professional woman and full-fledged witch, she could still vividly remember the trepidation and gloominess that seemed to permeate every part of the dungeon area.

Turning another corner, she spied her destination: his office. She wondered if he would remember her. The door was open, and so she tipped her head around the door post and looked in. Severus Snape was seated at his desk, testing potions. He looked just as she had remembered him-long black hair, long black robes, no skin visible but his white face and hands. He looked up and saw her and she quickly took that as her cue to enter.

"Good morning, Professor Snape!" she said cheerfully, and she waltzed in.

"Who are you?" he asked, skeptically.

"My name is Leah Hightower. I've just started working here. You had me as a student, if you remember?"

A light of realization seemed to dawn on him. "Ah, yes, I do remember you. You did quite well in my N.E.W.T. class, if I recall."

"Yes, I did," she smiled modestly.

"So what are you doing back here?" he asked, not unkindly, but not warmly either. His face was stony as always. She should have known not to count on a smile or a handshake after all this time. This was Professor Snape, after all.

"I am an assistant healer in the infirmary. But I'm also working as something of a liaison between Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout. I'll be handling inventory as far as plants and any other ingredients go. So, I was wondering if you had a minute so I could go over the new order forms with you, since I'm sure you'll be using them quite a bit."

"I suppose so," he allowed. "I'm teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, so my orders will be smaller, but still necessary."

"Oh, goodness, I didn't realize that! Is this your first year at it?"

"Yes."

"Who has potions now?"

"Professor Slughorn has come out of retirement. He would have been before your time."

"Ah, okay. I've heard stories." There was a pause. "Anyway, I'll show you the form."

Leah walked up to his desk as he moved his potion out of the way to allow her to place a paper down in front of him. She held it upside down to her and deftly pointed and explained each box and requirement quickly, knowing that he was following her closely, his dark eyes darting after her finger and taking in everything she said. It gave her an odd kind of pleasure to suddenly play the role of teacher to him even for a few moments, after so many classes where she had felt she was barely keeping up with his knowledgeable, fast-moving instructions. But she knew he had prepared her well for her future work.

"Does that make sense?" she asked, almost breathless by the end of it.

"Yes, it seems straightforward enough. When do I need to start using these?"

"Today. That's why I brought a whole stack of them for you." She opened up her folder and handed the papers to him.

"I see." He took them and placed them on the other side of his desk.

"Madam Pomfrey has more, or you can always let me know when you're getting low when I'm down here making deliveries."

"Yes, of course."

She paused for a moment. He stared at her.

"Well," she fumbled. "I guess that's all. Uh, see you later." She smiled and left the office.

 _That was an awkward exit_ , she said to herself as she walked back down the hallway, her shoes clicking loudly on the stone floors.

Out of everything she had been reminded of on this lovely first day back at Hogwarts, Professor Snape was certainly still the most mysterious.


	2. The Life-Giving Bracelet

The infirmary was somewhat quiet in the early weeks of the new Hogwarts term, but Leah was still kept very busy with her other duties. The new order system seemed to work well after a few frustrating days of sorting out misunderstandings from staff members who were far slower to catch on than Professor Snape. Leah was a conscientious worker, and took her job very seriously. She got along quite well with Madam Pomfrey because, although both could be strict about things, Leah responded well to an authoritative figure, and learned how to fulfill the various requirements of her job quite thoroughly. Before long, she was feeling quite at home at Hogwarts, rather than simply a giddy and nostalgic returnee.

She had just been about the castle replenishing all known supplies of bezoars, when she returned to find Madam Pomfrey giving a patient a dose of something, while telling off another boy.

"Well, I hope you've learned your lesson, Mr. Vale! No more of this nonsense, please! You're a sixth year, after all!"

Leah found Madam Pomfrey chuckling to herself after they had gone.

"So, what happened there?" she asked as she adjusted her tasks chart for the day, and brushed her long, dirty-blond hair out of her face. They had already had a polyjuice potion incident the previous week, and a few broken bones to mend from flying lessons and Quidditch practices.

"Oh, well, I think that's a record. First love potion for the term. Made it all the way to November! I really can't believe nothing like this happened before the first Hogsmeade weekend."

"Oh dear!" said Leah. "I detest love potions! I had to deal with so many instances of that as a prefect. Infatuated 14-year-old girls suddenly have a boy chasing them everywhere. I learned the signs after a while."

"Yes, only this situation was a bit more unusual," she chuckled again. "It seems, that a particular student, who is certainly old enough to know better, I might add, tried to give a love potion to a particular girl he is smitten with. However," Madam Pomfrey was full-on laughing now, her shoulders heaving, "apparently his best friend got ahold of it first, by accident! His best friend is another boy, of course."

"Oh Merlin!" Leah let out a guffaw. "That's just... wow. Awkward! I wonder if they'll still speak to each other after that."

"I'm sure they'll get over it. But that's one of the huge risks you take with any kind of secret potion. Sometimes they end up in the wrong hands."

"Indeed. A good lesson for us all. Well, thanks for my laugh today, Madam Pomfrey."

"Now Leah, I keep telling you - it's Poppy."

"I know," sighed Leah. "I've had several professors tell me the same thing. I'll try, I really will, it's just so... hard! Even Professor McGonagall was all like 'Call me Minerva.' Really? I just can't imagine calling her by her first name... it seems so rude. Funny, I don't think I even knew what her first name was until my third year."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "It is a transition we all must make. You just have to accept that we're colleagues now."

"I suppose I will get used to it."

Madam Pomfrey was busy unpacking a box into a large upper cabinet, but kept up the conversation while Leah was filling out order forms.

"So how has your transition been? Do you feel at home here?"

"Oh yes, I really love it. The only thing... is that I feel like I'm very much in the middle of a generation gap. There are many students around who are younger than me, and most of my colleagues" she emphasized the word in a very professional-sounding way "are older than me, so I'm somewhat in the middle."

"Yes, I can imagine you'd want company from more than just old hags like me."

"That is NOT what I said," Leah put her hand on her hip and glared teasingly at Madam Pomfrey, whom she knew was joking.

"I know, but I understand. So," she said, with a bit of a pause, "do you have anyone... special, in your life?"

"No. I really haven't dated much, honestly. Most men my age are... well, not really ready for... I don't know, I guess I'm just more serious-minded than most of them. I'm ready for something serious, but they're not. So, maybe it's better that I'm in a gap here. I do tend to get along better with people older than me."

"Just remember, Hogwarts tends to be a bastion of singleness. I think there are only two or three teachers who are married. Oh well... I'm sure you'll find someone, if that's what you're looking for."

"Thanks. I'm not worried about it."

Madam Pomfrey had taken a small package out of one of her boxes and stared at it for a few moments. "I haven't had these for so long, I don't remember where I last kept them."

"What is it?" asked Leah. She watched as Madam Pomfrey unwrapped a bag of small items that looked almost like plastic twist-ties, with short spikes on their ends.

"These," she said solemnly, "Are life-giving bracelets."

"Oh," Leah pondered for a moment. "I remember hearing about those in school. They aren't used very often, are they?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I don't know that this is the place for them. They're really more of a personal item."

"Now... what they do is, they transfer healing power from one person to another?"

"Right. Not something a healer would use, because they'd be dead by the time they finished with all their patients. But in a situation where you really cared about someone, you could tie it up like so," she demonstrated the positioning of the joint bracelets, "and it could save someone's life."

"But at quite a cost to the giver, I'm sure."

"Yes. Though if they're healthy enough to begin with, they usually recover. But it's a risk. I mean, if you used this on your 90-year-old grandmother having heart failure it would probably kill you. If you used it on a child, you'd almost certainly live. I've never actually seen one used. They don't work for chronic diseases and such-just medical emergencies. Usually no one carries one with them, and trying to explain it in the middle of a trauma doesn't always work. Well," she said, plopping them down in a drawer, "they're here if any family member happens to ask for them in an emergency. Not sure what else we'd do with them."

Leah was soon off to the greenhouses to check in with Professor Sprout, and by the end of the day, was quite exhausted. She entered her small, private chamber down the hall from the infirmary, and plopped down for a few moments to rest her back and feet.

She couldn't help but ponder her conversation with Madam Pomfrey, er, Poppy. She was telling the truth that she was generally fine with being single. In fact, sometimes she was proud of it. She knew that love was a sacrifice, and was sometimes painful - something she had experienced before. But there were times when she just wished that she had someone to talk to at the end of the day. Even going down to Hogsmeade for a drink felt strange without anyone with her, though she didn't mind at all when staff members invited her down on their little excursions. But those seemed few and far between.

She remembered her initial job interview, and Madam Pomfrey had mentioned that Hogwarts was not usually the first choice for young witches like her. Usually a ministry position, or something at Saint Mungo's was more where the younger, fresh-out-of-school candidates went, and then turned up at Hogwarts years down the road when they wanted something more out-of-the way or community-based. But here she was. She really did love it. But there was still that ache inside her that questioned whether she had thrown her prospects out the window by accepting this position. 


	3. The Enchantment

Leah awoke one cold Thursday morning. It was the first day back from the Christmas holidays, and she was feeling invigorated and ready to start a new year. She had needed the break. Pre-Christmas had seen an upturn in minor illnesses and potions gone wrong among students, and there had been several messy incidents in the infirmary. But today was a new start, and it felt good.

She slid out of bed and jumped in the shower. After drying off, she stared for a moment at herself in the mirror before getting dressed.

"So how did I do after all those Christmas sweets?" she muttered to herself. She was what some would consider "full figured," but had an hourglass form and had gradually become much more confident in her appearance as an adult, after some dalliances with a few unfortunately popular potions during her early Hogwarts days. She decided she looked fine, and had nothing to worry about, but was looking forward to being on her feet more and climbing more stairs. She had actually found herself in good physical shape after her first term, with all the walking she had to do on a daily basis.

After dressing, she attempted a little bit of makeup with her wand, but was running out of time, which was how it always seemed to go. She had become fairly casual about such things. She gazed at her freckled face in the mirror, and added a bit more eyeliner, then some reddish lip tint to make her full lips stand out a little bit more. Then she quickly brushed her long hair, threw on her glasses, grabbed her bag, and was out the door to breakfast.

Once at the infirmary, she resolved to get as many errands done in the morning as she could, to perhaps let the afternoon be a bit more relaxed. She had several orders to go through and potions to package, but when she was done, she had several boxes waiting to go. She decided to start at the bottom and visit the dungeon first. Picking up Professor Snape's box, she made her way down into the depths of the castle. For some reason, that same sense of trepidation filled her insides again. She hadn't been down there many times, but it always seemed to come as she descended that last staircase. It wasn't fear, exactly. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Some kind of cautious excitement, perhaps.

Rounding the corner, she heard his voice when she was still a few doors down from his office. He didn't sound happy. She stopped and listened for a moment. Maybe this wasn't a good time.

"If you're not going to tell me, Mr. Vale, then perhaps I'll have to examine this for myself and determine what it is."

Leah heard a boy's voice, but it was not as sharp as Snape's, and didn't carry. She decided she didn't want to go all the way back up the stairs, nor did she want to place the box outside the door for Peeves to wreak havoc with, so she resolved to simply walk in, set it down on his desk, and leave before they even really noticed her. She hated to draw attention for any reason.

As she rounded the corner, she saw two boys, both Slytherins. One she recognized as a prefect, and the other was, once again, Vale - the boy who had suffered the previous "love potion gone wrong" disaster.

Snape was speaking again as she came in, and he was holding a strange-looking device in his hands. It was cylindrical and thin, and looked almost like a gun of some sort, but not any kind of gun she'd ever seen.

"-told that you were pointing this at a girl, and so it's quite important that you tell me what you were hoping to accomplish. What's this thing below it?"

"No, wait!" shouted Vale.

It was too late. Snape had pressed it, and suddenly there was an eruption of silver-colored fog from the device, and Leah, who had just reached Snape's desk and set the box down on it, found that it was shooting out in a snake-like tendril right toward her, and quickly wrapping itself around her arm.

"Oh goodness!" she shouted, and took a step back. The smoke followed her, and she saw that there was another one wrapped around Snape's arm as well. He was busy shooting spells at it from his wand, attempting various methods at eradicating the disturbance. Leah grabbed for her wand too, but by the time she had it out, the smoke had burst with a "pop" and left their arms free, forming a smokey image in the air that gradually dissipated into nothing.

"What on earth was that?" Snape demanded, looking at Vale who was standing by the door. Both he and the prefect were staring, wide-eyed, and Vale was looking almost sickly.

"I-I don't know, sir."

"So let me see if I have this right," Snape said, coldly, deliberately, "you pointed this ridiculous, unknown device at a girl, hoping it would - what, shoot smoke at her and wrap itself around her arm, and then evaporate? Is that it? Was that yet another loony plan to win her affection?"

Snape was looking quite put out as he leaned over his desk to glare at Vale. Suddenly, he seemed aware that Leah was there too.

"And what about you?" he asked, sharply.

"Oh, I-I was just here making a delivery," she said in a small voice, pointing to the box.

"Yes, I see that, but what did it do to you? Anything? Do you feel any different?"

"Oh," she responded, somewhat relieved. "No, I, uh, don't think so." She shook her arm. "Everything feels normal here."

"Did you see what that image was in the air before it disappeared?"

"It looked like numbers."

"Yes, that's what I thought too. What did you see?"

"Well, it looked to me like two number sixes, with a dash or something in between them."

"Hmmmmmm," he muttered. "That means nothing to me."

"Nor I."

"All right," said Snape, looking in her direction. "I suppose I'll get back to interrogating the perpetrator. If you feel any ill effects, well, you'll be in the right place, but I'll want to know about it too."

"Certainly," Leah said with a nod, and was out the door.

All the way back up the various hallways, she replayed the situation over and over in her head, and when she reached the infirmary, she related the whole thing to Madam Pomfrey.

"That's very strange," she said. "Doesn't sound like anything I've dealt with before. Yet. But," she continued, crossly, "this new 'Weasley's Wheezes,' or whatever it is, comes up with something new just about every week. Far worse than the other joke shops." She shook her head with disgust.

"True... we have seen some strange things. But they usually specify in weird things. Why would Vale have been pointing this at the girl he was smitten with unless he was hoping it would do something... nice? I wish I'd been able to stay and listen to Snape ask him more questions."

"Who knows. At least it wasn't a love potion, right? You'll let me know if you're suddenly seized with a deep and unwavering infatuation with Severus Snape, won't you?"

Leah snorted. "Of course. But I think that would have happened already if that's what it was!"

"I'm joking," said Madam Pomfrey. "Hopefully it was nothing. Now, could you mix up another batch of flu potion while I check in on the patient?"

Leah worked steadily through til the end of the day, and found herself more tired than relaxed, and glad to be back in her room once dinner was over. There was a big homecoming event that weekend, and the excitement was building among the students, leading to more noise, chatter, and nervousness in the Great Hall, which Leah thought affected her even though she was somewhat removed from it.

After resting for a few minutes, she headed down the hallway to return a library book. She hadn't gone ten steps, when she felt a sudden tugging on her legs. It soon spread to her whole body, and she felt as though an invisible force was pulling her away without her consent. She was soon stepping along to keep up with it, and no amount of pulling or straining in the other direction would stop it.

Leah was worried and confused. Should she call out for help? What could anyone do as she glided past them? Going around a corner, she grabbed onto the stones on the wall, but her grip was quickly pulled away. She tried walking along with the force, and it almost looked as if she was doing so intentionally, but thought she must have looked strange. Soon she was heading down stairs, and down a hallway, closer to the dungeon. Where on earth would this stop? Was it going to run her into a wall?

Before she could think anything else, she collided with a large, dark figure. They were both sprawled on the floor, and she looked up and saw Severus Snape quickly getting to his feet. The invisible force seemed to be suddenly gone.

"What on earth?" he sputtered.

"I have NO idea," Leah responded, fearfully. "Something just pulled me all the way down here, and I had no control over it at all. It was the strangest thing..."

"I know," he replied, annoyed. "The same thing happened to me." Snape had stood up to go. "Well, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," she mumbled, though she probably had a few bruises.

"Okay. I'm going to-" but as he moved away, it was as if he ran up against the same invisible force. He strained and stretched, but couldn't move another inch.

Leah came over to him. Suddenly, he pitched forward onto the floor.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry! What was that?" she asked.

Snape once again picked himself off the floor, cursing under his breath.

"Hang on, hang on a minute," he said, brushing his long, black hair out of his face. "Turn around and face me."

Leah obliged. She was glad there was no one else in the corridor at that moment.

"Now, take a step back." She obeyed. There were about seven feet between them. Snape took another step back, and motioned for her to do the same. But she couldn't do it. She could barely turn her body, and her legs moved as if butting up against something unseen. Snape did the same thing, and found that he couldn't move any further back either.

"Now step closer." They both came closer and found they could move about just fine, but after a few moments of experimenting, it became clear that they were somehow stuck in a bubble of about ten feet from each other, requiring them to remain within a certain distance at all times.

Snape sighed. "Let's go into my office," he said. They both walked further down the hall, and Leah walked closely enough to him that neither of them were stopped.

Snape went over to the fireplace, and Leah watched as he began a conversation, which she realized must have been directed to the Slytherins' common room.

"Noah Vale!" he called. "Is Noah Vale in attendance?" The Slytherins were quiet for a moment, until one boy volunteered "He's in the boys' dorms."

"Well get him!" shouted Snape. "Tell him to report to my office immediately!"

With another sigh of disgust, Snape sat down at his desk and Leah followed. He produced a chair for her, and she sat silently while he again picked up the strange device and began going over it with his hands and eyes. He seemed deep in thought. Suddenly, Leah had a thought too.

"Wait a minute... 6-6... six to six. It was about six p.m. when that happened, wasn't it?" she asked, quietly.

"I was just thinking that," he mumbled. Just then, a terrified-looking Vale entered Snape's office.

"Mr. Vale," Snape said, severely. "I put up with your feigned ignorance when we thought we had merely been subjected to a puff of smoke, but it's become clear that there's something far more complex going on. You will tell me immediately and truthfully, where you obtained this device, and what it was you were expecting to use it for, or else you will be facing expulsion."

Apparently "expulsion" was the operative word. Vale took a deep breath and the words seemed to spill out of him: "I'm sorry Professor, I never thought it would happen this way, I just, there's a girl I really really like, and, well, the love potion didn't work out and I asked someone to make me something that would, it was called the marriage enchantment, and I hadn't really asked many questions about it, I just..."

"Hold on just a moment," Snape cut in. "Who did you ask?"

Vale looked as if he was going to vomit, and replied in a small, shaking voice. "Weasley's Wheezes. It was, it was special... made to order."

Snape glared at him for several seconds without saying a word. Leah was happy to not be on the other side of that glare.

"Weasley's Wheezes," Snape uttered, with cold derision. There was silence for a moment.

"Well? What's the antidote?"

"A-antidote?" Vale squeaked.

"Yes, Vale, antidote! To undo this ridiculous bind we find ourselves in! I can imagine Madam..." he glanced questioningly at Leah.

"Uh, Hightower."

"-Hightower has many more important things she would like to be doing besides being magically chained to the side of my desk right now. Surely you don't mean to tell me that you made no provisions whatsoever for this particular stunt going wrong?"

"I, just, I guess I didn't think about that."

"Really? Your previous disaster wasn't even enough to make you think twice?" Snape threw up his hands in disgust. "So there were no instructions, nothing that came with this that gave you any kind of indication for how to undo it?"

"Not that I saw. Like I said, it was made to order..."

Snape was clearly angry. He finally ordered Vale out of the room after issuing him at least one week's worth of detention, and fell back to examining the device.

"I suppose," he muttered, "there is always the chance that this could be potion-based."

After a few moments, Leah ventured, "Should we attempt to contact the Weasleys?"

Snape sighed. He had managed to open the device and, after tapping his wand, revealed an incredibly long list of ingredients in the air.

"What the devil? I would not have guessed the Weasleys had this kind of skill. Or that Vale had this kind of money. They must have owed him something." Snape was mostly muttering to himself at this point, but then remembered Leah had asked him something.

"Ah, I suppose. If they have an antidote already made up, that would make our lives a whole lot easier. But these are the Weasleys we're talking about. What are the odds that they thought this through any more than Vale did?"

With a huffy flick of his wand, Snape transposed the ingredient list onto the large blackboard behind his desk. He began naming off ingredients, and with each wand movement, another word appeared on the board, though some were color-coded differently. After doing this, he began moving the terms around the board in a way that seemed haphazard at first, but Leah could soon discern clear patterns in what he was doing. He occasionally added qualifying statements such as "double strength" or other such instructional phrases, and consulted a reference book a few times. Leah watched with fascination as his wand worked so swiftly, and then watched his face as he concentrated on what he was doing, his dark eyes moving quickly and directly to follow everything. Before long, he was finished.

"Well, there it is. That's the formula." The board was almost completely full of text.

"That was amazing," said Leah.

Snape looked surprised. "Didn't you learn to do that in my N.E.W.T. class along with all the others?"

"Well, sure, but, you just do it so much more efficiently than anyone I've seen. You look like you could do it in your sleep."

Snape looked almost pleased, but then said, "That won't matter much when you see how long this potion is going to take before it's viable."

"Oh dear. How long?" she asked, turning to the board.

"Ninety days."


	4. Moving In

"Ninety days," Leah repeated. "Wow. That will take us into April."

"Yes," mused Snape. "Well, I'm not giving up yet. I suppose it's time to involve some colleagues in this predicament."

He called Madam Pomfrey, who brought along Professor Sprout, and neither of them could come up with any short cuts to the potion Snape had already begun gathering ingredients for. Leah had to occasionally move from her chair while he rummaged around in different supply locations. Madam Pomfrey had to bring one ingredient from the infirmary, and Snape and Leah went up to the owlery so he could owl for the last one, which was quite rare and not stocked at Hogwarts.

By the end of the evening, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn had also been by as word spread, and none of their suggestions or attempts amounted to much either. Snape said that he would ask Dumbledore when we returned from whatever travels he was off on that weekend, but didn't hold out much optimism.

Leah continued to sit in her chair while Snape worked to gather all of the ingredients so the potion could be made as soon as the last one arrived. She grew tired and soon rested her head against her arm on the back of the chair.

"All right," said Snape. "I guess that's enough for one evening. I do have some essays to mark. Ah... would you like a book? Or perhaps a bed?"

"Oh, I can stay awake for a little while longer," she yawned.

"Well I'll at least bring you a more comfortable chair," he said, swapping out her hard-backed one for a comfy arm chair with a few waves of his wand. Leah was able to stay awake for the next forty-five minutes that Snape was working, but when he finally finished, she was quite ready to sleep.

"So," said Snape, pondering something. "I imagine, that with ten-ish feet between us, the best thing to do would be to... move my bed..." he said, as he started walking. Leah followed him through a door on the other side of his office which led into a sitting area. This room contained a loveseat and a few more chairs and other pieces of furniture, as well as several tall bookcases full of books, and on the other side of the room was a short alcove with two doors. Leah had been wondering exactly how they would work this out. Now that she knew it might be long term, all kinds of situations began filling her head. Sleeping... toilet breaks... evenings out?

Snape had entered one of the doors, and emerged a few moments later. "I just moved my bed right up against the wall," he said. He then muttered a few things and waved his wand, conjuring up a bed that was very similar to the one Leah had in her own room, but a bit smaller to be able to fit into the sitting room. It was butted right up against the wall, across from the second door.

"There," he said. "Now this, over here, is the bathroom," he said, pointing to the other door.

"Okay," she murmured. She always grew quieter when she was tired.

"So, I'm guessing you have some things you'd like to retrieve?"

"Oh, yes, right," she said, suddenly waking up a bit. Snape dutifully followed her (after testing just to see that the enchantment was indeed still upon them) up to her chamber where she grabbed her pajamas and toiletries before heading back down to his office.

"It's a good thing your place is big," she drawled, sleepily. "There would barely be space for two people to roll over in my room."

It was so strange laying down in a bed that wasn't her own, in a dark room that was unfamiliar, and knowing that there was someone else right across the wall from her-someone she was now apparently bound to for a period of time. She thought back to what Vale had said. He had definitely used the words "marriage enchantment" in his timid explanation. Did that mean she and Snape were somehow... married? She would have to ask him about it tomorrow. Or would she? How would he handle that? He was still a mystery to her. She had seen his temper and moodiness that day, but he had also been polite enough to her. Would that change if they had to dwell like this for the next few months? Would they grow more comfortable with each other? Would he talk to her about more than just the things that were right in front of them? She wasn't sure why, but as she rapidly drifted off to sleep, she was hoping that the answers to some of those questions would be "yes."

* * *

Leah woke up in something of a daze the next morning. She heard sounds vaguely, like a toilet flushing, and a door closing, and then footsteps somewhere. Slowly, realization came back to her, and she remembered why she was where she was. The fact that she had heard footsteps in the office must surely mean that it was after 6 a.m. The room was fairly dim, and she suddenly brought her arm out from under the blankets to check her watch. 6:30. She should have been up by now. She would have to skip the shower. She grabbed her things and headed for the bathroom. Snape was sitting at his desk when she exited the sitting room.

"Hello," he muttered, turning to her.

"Hello. Thanks for... putting me up, I suppose."

Snape shrugged. "Didn't really have much choice, did we?" Leah noticed the potion was already bubbling away on a table in the corner of the room.

"Owl came back already?"

"Yes. I overnighted it."

"Well, that's good. So... I, uh, I guess I'll see you this evening. And if you don't mind, I'll plan to be here a little before 6, to avoid a repeat of last night's collision." Snape merely nodded.

After checking back in at her own chamber, and grabbing a quick breakfast, Leah was off to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey greeted her quite sympathetically and asked whether any progress had been made. Leah shrugged. "None really."

For the rest of the day, she found herself in a somewhat unpleasant mood, though she tried to at least be polite and cordial to everyone she interacted with. During lunch, Snape came over to her and said that if she was willing, he wanted to attempt to put a distance between them before 6 p.m. to see if that would make any difference. Leah decided she was game, and apparated several towns away by 5:50. She stood in a deserted-looking field in the dark, wondering if perhaps this would do the trick.

But sure enough, she was startled with a jolt of movement at 6, and felt herself being drawn back in the general direction of Hogwarts. Snape had told her to apparate if this happened, and so once again, they had another collision, though had learned to do it slightly more gracefully by now. Later that evening, she took on the task of contacting Weasley's Wheezes by floo, and after some back-and-forth, was satisfied as to the fact that there existed no antidote in stock for that particular device.

And once again, that evening Leah found herself in a chair next to Snape's desk while he marked essays, only this time it was a comfortable arm chair and she was curled up with a book and a mug of hot pumpkin tea. They had both realized that a certain degree of compromise was now inevitable, and Snape had even been polite enough to ask her if she had any plans that evening rather than simply assuming she'd be available to sit by his desk. But she admitted that it was not that different from how she normally spent her evenings, and even began to secretly look forward to it as the days passed.

After Dumbledore got back, he paid a visit during a work evening and asked a few questions and tried a few spells, but wasn't able to come up with any short cuts either. It was looking like Snape and Leah would be bound together nightly for a good many more weeks.

* * *

Severus Snape returned quickly from dinner and entered his bedchamber, locking the door and casting spells all about to make his actions silent from outside the room. Then he pulled a box out from under his bed, and took a large mirror out of it.

"Is anyone available?" he asked it, holding it level with his face.

Suddenly, a shape swirled into view on the mirror's smooth surface, and Bellatrix Lestrange's annoyed face appeared.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I need a word with the Dark Lord."

"He's busy!"

"I won't be able to meet at our usual time tonight, and I need to let him know why."

"Fine," she said. "I will tell him." Snape waited a moment, and the face of Voldemort flashed into view.

"Severus! What's going on?"

"I need to fill you in on a development that may affect my presence at meetings," he said, in his low, secretive tone of voice. He then described in quick, general terms, the events of the past few days, and the effects of the enchantment.

Voldemort cackled loudly. "And they say it's ME who performs dark magic!" he scoffed. "Chaining two people together like that. That's as miserable as anything. Can you still do your work? Need to arrange any kind of accident?"

"No, no, it's okay," Snape said, quickly. "I can ride it out. I'll just be indisposed from the hours of 6 at night to 6 in the morning. I just don't know how I could regularly be alone enough to do this without raising her suspicions. Though," he added, quickly, "I could certainly work something out in an emergency if I had to."

"Yes, you certainly would," sneered Voldemort.

Soon the conversation was over, and Snape was returning to his office to supervise Vale's detention and await Leah's arrival.

* * *

One evening, Leah entered Snape's office around 5:55 and found it deserted. But she noticed a light under the door of the sitting room, and opened the door slowly. He was sitting in the largest arm chair, reading a book.

"Ah," she said. "No work tonight, then?"

"No, I'm caught up," he murmured, without looking at her. She walked over to her bed in the corner, and dumped a large armful of clothes onto it, as well as several bags which had been floating along behind her.

Snape was staring at her now. "What are you doing-moving in?"

"Well... only as much as necessary. I'm just so tired of the back-and-forth-I might as well keep a few basics here. I've already got a toothbrush on your sink, so why not?" She smiled at him. He glared at her and returned to his book.

She opened the large drawer under the bed and began placing neat piles into it, of pajamas, dressing gowns, slippers, books, and other things she thought she would need in the evenings. While she had rearranged her showers to coincide with her free hours, there were still some things that she preferred to do right before bed. Soon she had found a comfortable spot on the loveseat, and was lounging before the open fire, reading her book. When 6 o'clock hit, she was forced to move to the other side of the seat, but still felt nice and cozy. She looked over at him. She wanted to ask him her question, but bringing it up out of the blue seemed strange.

"So," she began. "Are you planning to attend the Valentine ball next week?"

He lowered his book slightly. "Unfortunately. I'm a required chaperone," he replied, dryly.

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess that answers the question as to whether I'm going!"

"Mmmm. Sorry about that."

"No, it's no problem. I actually was hoping to go, I just wouldn't want to feel like I was dragging you along too if you really didn't want to..." she trailed off. This conversation wasn't going in the direction she was aiming for.

"So, Severus... if I can call you that?"

"You're not my student anymore, are you?"

"No," she chuckled. "Well, I was wondering... did you hear what Vale said about the enchantment, about it being a marriage enchantment? What did that even mean? Are we, like... married now?"

"No, of course not," he snorted, looking up over his book again.

"Well... how can you be sure?"

"Because that's not what enchantments do," he said pointedly, setting his book down on his lap.

"I do understand that a love potion can't make people really in love," she rationalized, "but you don't have to be in love to be married, technically, do you? I mean, if it's a matter of will or consent, that doesn't necessarily preclude us from being married, any more than it preculdes us from having to do other things outside our will or consent, does it? Unless you know more about enchantments than I do, which you probably do..."

He looked exasperated and rubbed his eyes. "All right, Miss Hightower, look at it this way. What would a couple be required to do in order to be considered 'married' in the eyes of the magical community?"

"Well," she thought. "They would have to have a ceremony performed by someone who is given authority to perform a marriage, and then sign a document with two witnesses."

"Exactly. And no one present in that room was authorized to perform anything, there were not two witnesses, and nothing was signed. So does that answer your question?"

"Well, I understand all that, but hasn't magic superseded law before? What came first, enchantments or the current form of legal marriage?"

"It almost sounds as if you're questioning why a current law should have jurisdiction over an old one."

"No, that's not it, it's just... magic. Doesn't magic have the power over physical laws and requirements?"

"Magic has immense power to manipulate the physical world, but it does not change the overriding laws of the physical world, nor of the legal system unless it is working under that system. If an enchantment somehow forced us to sign a document as if under an Imperius curse, or forced another witness into the room, then you could talk about marriage. Until then, it's merely an unfortunate enchantment that will be taken care of once this tedious waiting period is over." He returned promptly to his book.

"Yes, I see... I guess I knew that, I just... wanted confirmation," she replied, pathetically. Snape continued reading.

Leah felt stupid. She didn't want him to think she was really trying to force anything, she just needed help with her thought process, but as he had done before, Snape was able to make just about anyone feel stupid when he wanted to. She stared into the pages of her book feigning interest, but the words all ran together and her thoughts were far away. She wanted to get up and escape the tension in the room, but that was impossible. Even getting ready for bed would require asking him to move, which she was in no mood to do.

What did he think of her? She knew he was probably annoyed by this whole thing, and it came through sometimes, but not as often as she would have assumed. Still, she hated feeling like an annoyance, even though they both knew it was no more her fault than his. In fact, he should be thanking her, because if she hadn't been in the room... she suddently let out a snorting laugh that she tried to muffle, without success.

Snape glared over his book again. "Something funny?"

"Oh, I just suddenly had the thought... you should really be thanking me, because if I hadn't been making a delivery at that moment, you would have ended up fake married to Vale instead."

Snape rolled his eyes and went back to his book.


	5. The Valentines Ball

The season for love potions had begun, and Leah had now treated three separate incidents in one week. She wished she had the time and relationship to be able to sit down with some of the girls and explain to them exactly why they didn't need to go that route (it was almost always girls), but realized that perhaps they just had to learn it for themselves. But she hoped they were learning the right lessons.

She remembered how desperate she had been at times for attention from the boys she had crushes on, and how much she wanted to be desired-how good she imagined it would feel. The temptation was certainly strong. But the short-term gain was never worth it, and she had seen that time and time again. When the potion wore off, what little relationship there had been was almost certainly finished. The potioned boys ended up feeling deceived, humiliated, and usually quite resentful, not in love. She couldn't really blame them.

She thought about this as she walked down the stairs to the dungeon at 5:50, carrying her long formal gown over her shoulder in a garment bag. She hung it up on the inside of the bathroom door, and decided to at least start on her preparations before Snape arrived and had to be inconvenienced.

She ended up next to his desk with a hand mirror and her wand, wrapping strands of her long hair around it and muttering incantations to get it to function much like a muggle curling iron. She had seen her mother use one when she was little, but had entered Hogwarts long before she'd had the inclination to use one herself. After her hair was mostly satisfactory, she began applying makeup. Her wand was often too cumbersome for small areas of the face like eyes, but she used a small wand-shaped applicator which was easily correctable if she made a mistake, and would remove the makeup at the end of the day with a simple incantation. Muggle makeup was one thing she didn't miss in the least. Finally, Snape was ready to stand by the bathroom door while she got her dress on and did any other finishing touches in the mirror before putting her glasses on. He was apparently wearing what he'd been wearing all day.

"Ready?" he said curtly as she exited the bathroom.

"Yes," she said, meekly, grabbing her wand and stuffing it into a small purse. "Just trying to get my makeup right."

"Why bother?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What?" He walked on as if he hadn't heard her. She sorely hoped Tonks would be there. Snape kept a few paces ahead of her, and seemed determined to avoid their walking too closely together.

"Probably doesn't want anyone to get 'the wrong idea,'" Leah thought to herself.

As soon as they arrived, she felt someone grab her arm and saw Tonks right next to her. "Doradoo!" she shouted. "Leelee!" Tonks shouted in return. She embraced her friend, and they walked on behind Snape, not even paying attention to where he was headed. They had been friends in school, and though they'd lost touch for a little while afterwards with their various career training requirements, they found that being together again brought them right back to their younger days.

"So what's this I hear about you and Snape being...?"

"Being what?" Leah asked, indignantly. "What exactly are you hearing?"

"Oh, just a weird enchantment that keeps you _together at night_ ," she said eerily.

Leah rolled her eyes, and glanced warily in Snape's direction. He wasn't paying attention to them, and was far enough ahead that she was sure he couldn't hear. "Oh goodness, people aren't really saying that, are they? We're not 'together' like that, we just have to stay within a certain distance. It's no problem. He's in his room and I'm in a bed on the other side of the wall."

"Leelee, I was joking... not that you'd have to explain yourself to me even if you were, you know, doing it."

"Dora!" Leah whisper-shouted. "Shhhhhh! That's absolutely not going to happen. He hates having me there."

"Pfffff, sure he does. What about you?"

"I... don't know. It's an inconvenience. But it's also nice having someone to talk to. When he's in the mood for it."

Tonks narrowed her eyes a bit and looked at her. "So, you mean, there are times when you actually enjoying being in the company of Severus Snape?"

Leah sighed. "I hate to admit it, but..."

"Well it's fine!" Tonks corrected. "Maybe he needs something like this."

"But it won't ever happen," Leah whispered. "He's just... I don't know. He doesn't want it. I can't blame him though."

"I know how much that must hurt," said Tonks, sadly.

"I'm okay now, but... we haven't even been at this a month yet. I have a feeling it will hurt a lot more by the end of it, and that's what I'm afraid of."

"I'm so sorry," Tonks said, sympathetically. "I hope things turn around. Just continue being your regular kind self."

"I'll try. It's not always easy."

Tonks nodded. "I can imagine."

"So," Leah began, "What's with your hair? Usually it's pink or purple or something."

"Oh, well," Tonks said a little sheepishly, "I'm having my own problems with men."

"Oh? Who?"

"You probably don't know him. His name is Remus Lupin," she said in almost a whisper.

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."

"I wouldn't think so. It's a long story, but basically... we're sort of together, but he seems to be convinced that we shouldn't be. Not because of anything to do with me, but because he's, well, a werewolf."

"Really?" said Leah, eyes widening.

"Yeah. But he's amazing though. He's so kind and has a wonderful, caring personality, and I want to be with him forever, he just... he thinks he's not good enough, that I deserve someone else. I can't seem to convince him that he's all I want."

"Oh dear..." said Leah, sympathetically. "Is it because of his...werewolfness?"

"Yes," Tonks nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry," said Leah. "I'm rooting for you. I hope he comes to his senses soon!"

"Me too. He's off on a dangerous mission right now, and I just... I worry about him. Anyway, this does all go back to my hair. I've been having trouble with my powers, and that's why." Leah was surprised. She'd never known Tonks to have trouble with her ability to morph her appearance into anything she wanted. In the early days she had been a bit jealous of her for this reason, but as time went on and she got to know her, she realized that she was a wonderful person, and had far more humility than Leah probablly would have had with similar powers.

They had been hanging back while Snape had a conversation with Flitwick, but moved on when he did and sat down near him while the hall filled with students and music started playing. The firewhisky tray went by for the staff, and Tonks grabbed two for them.

"Want one?" Leah asked Snape.

"Please," he said, though he looked disdainfully at the bright red and glittery glasses they'd been served in.

They sat drinking for a few minutes, Tonks trying to make small talk with Snape. Before long, she turned back to Leah, and the two chatted about less private things, and tried to include Snape in the conversation, which he obliged. Soon McGonagall stopped by to talk with Snape, and Leah and Tonks went back to chatting, until finally Snape stood up and told Leah that he had some "chaperonely duties" to attend to. She had a vague idea of what this might mean.

Sure enough, she followed him for a walk around the gardens outside, and stood by while he caught couples canoodling in the bushes, trees, and other shelters, running them off and taking points away from their respective houses, even Slytherins, as the last couple were. As they ran away, Leah looked after them, squinting. "Severus," she whispered. "Was that... Vale?"

"It would appear so."

"My goodness. Maybe he finally discovered that he didn't need an enchantment to get the girl to like him."

"Or maybe it's a different girl. Things like these rarely last beyond a few weeks," responded Snape, cynically.

"I suppose. It would be pretty ridiculous if our unintended enchantment lasted longer than his infatuation."

"Our unintended enchantment is ridiculous anyway."

"Well, I know, I just meant... the irony. Nevermind." He whirled around and faced her.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Miss Hightower? Is this little situation fun for you?"

"N-no," she answered, taken aback. "I... just... try to make the best of everything."

"Of course you do. You were a Hufflepuff, weren't you?" he said with disgust.

"Were? I still am!" she said almost angrily as she followed after him. But they were re-entering the party, and she decided to drop it.

The night was winding down, and Leah had to accompany Snape to the Slytherin common room to deal with a disciplinary issue. She wondered whether all the students knew by now about their predicament. Most likely, they did. Word could really get around Hogwarts when it was interesting enough. If not, anyone would probably assume she was his date. Although... she sort of was by default, wasn't she? Just not a wanted one.

By the time they arrived back at the room, Leah was yawning. She dutifully sat near the bathroom door while he did his business, and then he did the same for her. She came out in her nightgown, and flopped onto her bed, ready to close her eyes and sleep.

* * *

As if it was possible, Leah found that Snape grew surlier in the following days. It wasn't just his tone anymore, it was almost his whole outlook. Leah tried to stay pleasant, but gave him space, and was careful not to continue conversations when she sensed him getting tired of them, which was often. She often began to wish for a vacation, but remembered that that was impossible.

Leah awoke one morning and realized she'd slept way too late. Snape had already had his tea and was about to leave for breakfast when she hurried out of the sitting room in her dressing gown and slippers, ready to dash off to her chamber.

"Goodness," she teased. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because I am not your alarm clock!" he said, turning on her, and closing the door he had started to open. "I don't want you here, remember? I am under no obligation whatsoever to see to YOUR responsibilities for you."

"I was just... joking," she managed, pushing past him to the door so he couldn't see the tears coming out of her eyes. She pulled her hair across her face as she ran so the students traveling past wouldn't see them either. When she reached her chamber, she threw herself down on her bed and cried many overdue tears, letting them soak the pillow underneath her. Finally, she willed herself to get up and change before hurrying off to work without breakfast.

"I should have seen this coming, dear," said Madam Pomfrey, handing Leah a handkerchief and some eye serum. "I'm actually amazed you made it a whole month without something like this. Let me fix you some tea."

"I'll be okay," she muttered, but couldn't think of anything else to say. All through the day she turned things over in her mind, resolving to not joke with him again, and to be very careful to be gentle and calm when she saw him next, though she mostly just wanted to give him the cold shoulder.


	6. Tea and Conversation

Leah sat in her chamber. It was 5:55. She was trying to will herself to stay there until 6 o'clock to make a statement to him, but was beginning to question what kind of a statement that would be and whether it would really be worth it.

Finally, she grabbed her things and took off down the hall. There was a part of her that actually sympathized with Snape after thinking everything through. He was right. He didn't want her there, and why should he? Why should he be expected to do anything more than physically move to the locations she needed when it was necessary for her to do what she needed to? But she hadn't asked him to do anything too over-the-top, had she? Nevertheless... she needed to respect his wishes. If he didn't want joking, she wouldn't joke. He was under no obligation to embrace any of her personality quirks. Goodness, should she apologize for making a little joke? She wondered if that would be best. She also hated how much she was overanalyzing the situation, and how much she knew that, deep down inside, she really wanted him to like her.

Although she was hurrying, she suddenly realized she hadn't quite made it when the force began pulling her, just down the hall from his office. Sure enough, they nearly collided at the entrance, but it was barely more than a bump because they had started from so close together. Still, Snape looked livid.

"What is wrong with you? Didn't you see what time it was?"

"I... thought we needed some space," she answered gingerly, as she picked her things up off the floor.

"Well of course we do, but that's not going to happen, is it? So at least do what you can do avoid making things more difficult."

"I'm sorry. I was not intending to make your life more difficult."

He stormed back into the room but was caught short by the enchantment. He looked over his shoulder, disgusted. She quickly followed him in. He went behind his desk immediately, as he clearly had work to do. Leah plopped down in the chair and suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there. She wondered how many hours she'd be stuck next to him.

"Could I get my book?" she asked, meekly.

"Fine," Snape muttered, and got up from his chair. When she was finally situated, Leah opened the book, but couldn't concentrate on the words. She almost felt like crying again, but took a few deep breaths and the feeling passed. Several minutes passed. Should she apologize? Would it help anything, or would he yell at her again and make her cry right in front of him? She wasn't sure if she should risk it, but decided it was better to err on the side of respect.

"Severus," she said softly.

"What?" he said sharply, his dark eyes darting to her chair.

"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for that stupid joke this morning. I didn't know it would upset you like that, and..." This was ridiculous. Two sentences into her rehearsed speech and she couldn't speak because the tears had exploded out of her like an emo cannon. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she said in her head, covering her face with her hands and retreating to the chair to try to get ahold of herself. "I'm sorry, I just can't..." she choked. Snape was silent.

Leah sniffled and turned in the opposite direction so he wouldn't have to see her like this. She really hadn't thought this through. There was nowhere to retreat to process things now, or to cool off. Everything had to happen right here, together. Slowly, her sobs became more infrequent, and she nestled her head more firmly into the back of the chair. She felt like a fool. The silence weighed on her like a thick blanket. Finally, she heard Snape move. She saw something out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he was holding a tissue box out to her. Without turning around, she grabbed several.

"Thank you." She blew her nose several times and tried to wipe the rest of the tears off her red face, and even blotted the chair a little bit, because it seemed like the thing to do. Quiet reigned again. Neither of them spoke, but it didn't sound like Snape was doing work either. Finally, he broke the silence.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Leah."

She turned around to face him, trying not to think about how blotchy her face probably was. He had said her name. She couldn't remember hearing his voice say it before. She looked at him. His face was still not exactly friendly, but had softened somewhat, and had lost the angry and disgusted look of a few minutes ago.

"If you say so," she whispered.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, resting his hands on the desk, looking down as if he had something to say, but needed to find the right way to begin. She waited for him.

"I... can't deny that I am not an easy person to be around," he admitted, "even for those who _don't_ have to live with me. I'm not used to living with anyone, and I often say things... in ways that are not very... kind... I know. I'll try to do better. This isn't your fault any more than it's mine... in fact, I suppose since I pulled the trigger I really have no one to blame but myself. So I'm sorry for being such a beast. I shouldn't have taken things out on you."

Leah smiled weakly. "I accept your apology." She wished it didn't sound so stodgy and formal.

"But just so you know..." he continued, "and I'm not quite sure how to say this... I suppose your questions about marriage put me on edge."

"Yes, I understand," the words started spilling out of Leah, "It was so stupid of me to ask that, and I didn't even think about how it could have sounded to you, especially with not knowing me at all, and-"

"I know," he said, a little more brusquely. "I'm not blaming you for anything. Just... you have to know that there is no possibility of anything more than a temporary enchantment here."

"I understand. I wasn't trying to-"

"I know you weren't," he said again. "But just in case there _did_ come any idea in your head of... just... it can't happen."

"I'll respect your wishes on that," she said, carefully.

"Thank you."

"I realize there's an awful lot about you that I don't know."

"Likewise."

"Oh pshaw, I'm a Hufflepuff... I'm more of an open book. I definitely can't keep up a poker face like you can."

"A what face?"

"Oh... it's a Muggle thing. Nevermind."

"No, I've heard this term before and I was curious then too. Can you tell me what it means, just so I'll know?"

"Well..." Leah thought for a moment. "There's a Muggle card game called poker, and it usually involves gambling so I've only ever played with my grandparents, but apparently... you have to wager based on what kinds of cards you have and how many points they're worth, and if you have a good hand, you want to try and convince people you don't, so they'll wager more money and you'll win it. I think. But anyway, having a poker face means your face is unreadable. No one can look at you and guess that you've got a good hand or a lousy hand. They can't tell whether or not you're bluffing. So that's how it applies to you. Your face is not easily readable."

"I see. Sounds similar to Warlocks - that's a game I often played in school. And I was rather good at it, probably for that reason."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway. I really should get this work finished so we don't have to sit here all night."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

He looked at her pointedly. "And stop apologizing."

"Okay," she said, trying to remember not to say "sorry" again even though the one word sounded inadequate on its own.

She lay awake for a long time that night, in the very dark, still, gloominess of the dungeon room, restlessly shifting in her bed. She still felt a bit stupid, but was very glad she had decided to speak to him. He continued to intrigue her more and more. She was determined to respect his wishes - after all, she hadn't been violating his privacy or coming onto him, and wouldn't dream of it either. But she couldn't deny there was something stirring inside her, something that desired more and more to be in his presence, even when he was in a bad mood (which, really, seemed to be often).

She found her mind going into odd places, pondering things she was probably only wasting brain power on. Why was he so pointedly against anything "happening"? Did he simply not like her? If she wasn't his type, then why didn't he just say that? More mysteries to keep her awake. If he said nothing was to happen, then she would do all in her power to make sure she did not make him uncomfortable, no matter which directions her feelings went. But she was afraid of how difficult this might be.

* * *

The next morning, Leah woke up to her alarm, glad she had not slept in again. She heard the comforting sound of Snape moving around in his office while he brewed his morning tea. She sat up in bed and yawned, willing herself to take the final leap off the bed and be officially "up." Just then, she heard a sound in the bathroom... and it sounded like a voice. Then there was another voice. It sounded as though a whispered conversation was going on.

Leah got up slowly and peered into the room. She saw Marley, the house elf, having what looked like a whispered argument with another house elf. When they saw her they both withdrew, looking a little bit frightened.

"What's the matter here?" Leah asked, keeping her voice quiet.

"Oh Mistress Leah, Gimpie here do not think Marley should help to clean the place you sleep now, but I tell him we are friends! Marley must do it! Gimpie clean Mister Snape's side and I clean yours, Mistress Leah."

Leah smiled at "her" loyal elf friend.

"Thank you so much for coming here, Marley. I'm glad to see you again! Gimpie, would it be all right if Marley helped you since you now have two people to clean up after here?"

Gimpie, a male house elf who looked thoroughly grumpy and tired, nevertheless shrugged his shoulders and acquiesced to Leah's petition. Marley gave her a big smile and wave before getting back to her cleaning, and Leah put on her dressing gown and slippers to head back up to her room.

"What was that all about? Were you talking to someone?" Snape asked, as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Severus. Yes, there were two house elves cleaning the bathroom. One of them is the one who cleans my chamber, and apparently she wanted to follow me around. They're so adorable sometimes."

"Hmmmph," was all Snape said to that.

* * *

"Wait, are you saying that Severus Snape actually _apologized_ to you for something?" said a shocked Tonks as she leaned forward at their table. Leah had taken a Sunday afternoon out to The Three Broomsticks to have a pint of butterbeer with her friend, and had filled her in on more details of what had been going on in her living situation.

"I have seriously never even heard of such a thing happening before, ever."

Leah shrugged. "I'm glad he's capable of seeing when he's wrong. The thing is, he usually _isn't_ wrong fact-wise, so he gets used to it. Where he goes wrong is in how he treats people."

"Definitely," Tonks nodded. "Well, I'm impressed. You'll get him there yet, Leelee," she said with a wink.

Leah tried to laugh, but wasn't very successful. "I don't know, I... I don't want it to be me trying to fix him or get him anywhere. I just... I just want us to live together harmoniously while we need to, and there is this part of me that really wants to learn more about him."

"I bet. He is a bit mysterious. That's so weird that he'd be so adamant about not wanting anything. I mean... I heard a rumor that he was in love with a woman a long time ago and she died or something. Otherwise I might be saying, hey, could he be gay?"

"I'd thought of that, but... it just didn't seem likely. And it's not like I'm going to come out and ask him! Oh well. How are your man troubles going?"

"Not much better," Tonks sighed. "Remus is still wavering. I know he loves me... there's no one else, and certainly no one else for me either. He just... he feels bad about himself, and about how much older he is than me, and that I'm the breadwinner."

"Does he not have a job?"

"Stigma," shrugged Tonks. "Sad but true. He actually taught at Hogwarts for a year, not that long ago, but resigned when word got out about what he was."

"That's too bad. What did he teach?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Nice. That's so sad that someone who's knowledgeable enough to do a job like that has a hard time finding work."

"It is. I feel so bad for him, but I know he doesn't want pity and I don't blame him, but when he starts with the self-loathing it's really hard for me to listen to sometimes. But he's not always that way. In fact, I think it's getting a lot better. I just really really love him," she confessed. "I don't know how long I'm going to have to spend convincing him before he'll believe that we can be together."

"You mean like, married? You are together already, right?"

"Oh yes, we are a couple in that sense. But I know we're ready to be married if he'd just be willing to believe me when I say I love him."

* * *

It had been a long day of helping patients, brewing potions, and trudging back and forth from the greenhouses in the cold winter weather. Leah was ready for it to be evening. She entered Snape's office and found that he was already in the sitting room, drinking a mug of maravine tea. In fact, she noticed that there were two mugs on the table. She plopped down in her chair and began to get comfortable.

"Tea?" he asked.

"Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you." She took the steaming mug in her hands. "I feel like I've been cold all day so this is perfect."

She sat down gently in the chair and began to rearrange her position.

"So what are you reading?" he asked.

Leah looked up, surprised. "Magic and Might. You've read Joshua Gottlieb, I'm sure?"

"Oh yes, of course. Not that one though. We had a few others assigned in Philosophy of Magic."

"Oh, I loved Philosophy of Magic! It was one of my favorite classes."

"Really?" he said, looking surprised. "Did you go beyond the intro class at all?"

"Oh yes, I took 300-level courses as electives - it fascinated me. As well as magical theory. I took a 200-level in that. I didn't have enough Ravenclaw in me to get much beyond there," she said, sheepishly.

Snape smiled. He actually smiled. "I didn't realize this was an area of specialty for you."

"Well, not really," Leah said, shrugging. "Just an area of interest. Obviously most of my classes were more in the line of healing arts."

"Now... when you were in school, how well were Gottlieb's theories treated? Because during my time, as the Death Eaters were gaining power, there was an awful lot of pushback against authors like him."

"I can imagine. No, by the time I was there, I didn't sense a whole lot of pushback, but I also never thought his ideas really got the attention they deserved. And I think that of the other authors we studied, very few were those who had been directly influenced by him."

"Yes, that was the case for me too. Even for those who weren't outright critics, there was sort of a passive moving away towards authors who'd had different influences - which is difficult, and limited the selections tremendously."

"Yes! Sort of the idea of 'we'll give him a mention because he was SO influential, but we won't bother actually presenting any of his ideas as they were written.'"

Snape nodded. "It was a shame. I wouldn't call myself an adherent exactly, but I can't help but think he was moving in the right direction. Did you know Grindelwald tried to ban all of his writings when he was in power?"

"I had heard that, yes. I don't suppose that worked too well."

"No, not at all. In face, it probably led to a resurgence."

"So," Leah said, her brow furrowing, "you don't call yourself an _adherent_ per se, but still adhere to the idea that Gottlieb was right?"

Snape chuckled. "I am coming to terms more and more with his primary idea - that power, or 'might' as he called it then, is backwards from how we usually see it. That the only way to have true power is to give, not to take. And I also believe his view of magic in relation to that was spot on - that magic is, comparatively speaking, the ultimate power that we know, and that as such, it should be used to help, raise up, and care for others instead of a personal power grab, which is the opposite of what the Death Eater ideology would be. And if you look at some of the earlier laws and principles the Ministry of Magic has had in place, many of them were based on those ideas, even if not entirely. Gottlieb's influence is so strong it would be impossible to eliminate it."

"Well, that's probably exactly what You-Know-Who plans to do," Leah said, soberly.

"Yes, I'm certain it is. And, not to sound arrogant, but so many Death Eaters join at a young age because they're immature enough to believe that power grabs will get them where they want to go. That doesn't usually work out well for anyone."

"I can imagine. It's pretty scary," said Leah, shivering a bit in her chair. "Now..." she added, more quietly, "is it true that you were a Death Eater at one time?"

Snape did not look to be upset by her question. He sighed. "It's true. That was a long time ago. And I will not deny that I was exactly the immature power-luster that I referenced earlier, though I think I took a more studious approach than many others. Which is yet another reason I appreciate Gottlieb's philosophies, because they helped me to make sense of things on my way out."

"That's wonderful," said Leah. "I'm glad you came out of it. Seems not many do."

Snape shook his head. "Most are in it to the death. Which means that opposing them is bound to be painful." They were quiet for a moment.

"Well, if you want to borrow this when I'm done, you're welcome to it. I've read it before."

"Thank you. I might take you up on that."

"So what are you reading now?"

"Well, that's a good question," said Snape, turning the book over in his hands to look at the cover.

Leah giggled. Snape shot her a glare. She suddenly went silent. She'd forgotten he was sensitive to jokes sometimes.

"Sorry," said Snape, as if coming back to himself. "There's nothing wrong with finding amusement in my inability to remember what book I happen to be on."

"I didn't mean to laugh at you. I think it's wonderful that you read so much that you have to jog your memory about titles."

"I know, it is," Snape sighed. "You don't have to explain yourself. It's just... " he hesitated, as if debating whether or not to say anything. "I didn't have a whole lot of laughter in my house growing up. In fact, most of the laughter I ever heard was from neighborhood children who thought it was hilarious that I was always dressed funny, or whatever other reason I wasn't like them that they found humorous. So... I'm having to learn that humor is not always an attack. And I know it's true, I just don't always react that way. I'm sorry you have to put up with my personal issues this way."

"It's okay," Leah responded, sympathetically. "Thank you for sharing that with me. That makes it easier for me to have an idea of where you're coming from."

Snape shrugged. "For whatever good it will do. Anyway," he continued, returning to his book, "this is is from 'The Ancients,' which is a series by Gerald Stummacker, and it's really just a modern review of ancient potion legends. Sort of a testing out of rumors and old recipes. It's interesting. More for amusement than for scholarly reading though."

"Everyone needs some of that," Leah said, smiling. "You'll always be a Potions Master at heart, won't you?"

"I suppose." Snape shifted in his chair for a moment, and then said, "I think I'm going to go to get ready for bed, if you don't mind."

"Sure." Leah got up and sat closer to the bathroom while he finished up, and then took her turn, before heading to her bed. She read for a little while after the room was dark, but had lost her desire to think about the material. She was thinking too hard about other things. She worried, though she knew it was probably irrationally, whether he had gone to bed early because he felt uncomfortable with her after sharing so much. At the same time, she was incredibly grateful that they'd had such an enjoyable, normal conversation about common interests.

It left her with more questions, and longing for more answers about this man that she spent every single evening with against his will. Well, technically it was against her will also, but she couldn't fool herself with that anymore. She _wanted_ to be with him. Even in his bad moods. He was a flawed but recovering human being, and he had a story, and she found herself yearning to hear more about it.


	7. Marley's Mistake

The next morning, Leah woke up chilly. She had wriggled out of her blankets a bit during the night, and realized upon looking down that she was showing quite a bit of leg. She wondered whether Snape had noticed on his way out... and was equally disgusted at herself for hoping he had.

The day passed normally enough. It was well into March now, and Quidditch season was in full swing. There had been several injuries, and Madam Pomfrey had a few meetings to attend, leaving Leah in charge of the infirmary. She had to intervene in several instances of "too many visitors," including several rowdy Quidditch team members, which wore on her by the end of the day.

She lay on her bed to rest for a few minutes, not leaving for Snape's office until the time was close, and upon arriving saw that he had a lot of work to do.

"So I guess we're out here tonight?" she asked, as 6 o'clock hit and the enchantment bumped her a little closer to his desk.

"Yes," he said. He seemed harried. "I also have a detention to supervise tonight around 8, so I'd like to get most of this done before then." Leah was so tired. She didn't even feel like reading. She just curled up in the chair and closed her eyes for a while.

Eventually she brought out her book. She had finished Gottlieb, and was reading a classic novel as a change of pace. It was a nice distraction from the sound of flobberworms that the unfortunate detainee was forced to sort through during his stay in Snape's office. Finally, she heard Snape dismiss the student, and begin cleaning up the various ingredients in the room. When it was satisfactory, he began heading for the sitting room. Despite her tiredness, Leah practically jumped up to follow him.

She walked into the room, and noticed that something was different. She couldn't see her bed. Instead its corner of the room was covered in a long, dark, floor-to-ceiling curtain.

She stared at it. "What on earth is that?"

"A curtain," Snape answered.

"Yes, I can see that," she replied, annoyed. "But what is it for?"

"Privacy. Now you can have privacy while you sleep. And also," he added, "it stretches far enough toward the doors that you should be able to get changed regardless of which room I'm in, eliminating the need for us to take tedious turns at getting ready for bed."

Leah didn't know what to think. She knew she didn't like it. She just couldn't articulate why.

"But... why?"

"Why not?"

"Severus," she said, getting more agitated against her will, "What's the deal here? Did you see something that... offended you?"

Snape whirled around. "Of course not. What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know... I just don't understand why- what was wrong with the old arrangement."

"If you don't see the advantage of being able to avoid much of the going-to-bed waiting time, then I'd be wasting my time explaining it to you."

Leah stood sullenly and stubbornly outside the curtain while he took his turn in the bathroom, and headed to his bedroom. He didn't say anything else to her, and the door shut behind him. Leah stood there for several more minutes, and then methodically went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she gingerly opened the curtain. Her bed was there and everything was as normal. She was just hidden from the rest of the room, sequestered away and shut in. She couldn't bring herself to close the curtain all the way, knowing it would get far too stuffy by morning. She opened it a crack near the head of her bed so breathing would be easier.

Why am I so angry? she asked herself as she lay on her bed, tossing and turning. Last night she felt as if something had been opened, and now it had been shut back in her face even harder than before. _That_ was it. She cried into her pillow, trying to be quiet, knowing he'd never hear anyway, sniffling, blowing her nose, crying again, wanting to get out, wanting to stay.

She had buried her head in the pillow and her sobs were winding down, when she heard a noise close by. She looked up quickly. She saw Marley the house elf standing right by her bed, looking sad but also a bit timid.

"Oh, Marley," she said in a husky voice. "You startled me."

"Sorry Mistress Leah, Marley heard sadness and came to see you."

"Oh, thank you, Marley," Leah replied in a whisper, sitting up a bit in the bed.

"Is there anything Marley can do to help you be better, Mistress Leah?"

"No, no, thank you so much for checking on me, Marley. But I'm afraid it's not something anyone can help me with. It's... it's a long story. I think I'll feel better after I have a good sleep."

"Okay, Mistress Leah. Marley is sad to see you sad. Marley wishes she could make Mistress better."

"I'm very grateful that you're looking out for me, Marley." Leah managed a smile.

Marley said goodbye, and vanished.

* * *

Leah woke up groggily the next morning. Her eyes felt sleepy, but as often happened, she felt more at peace upon waking than she had before she slept. She lay half-awake, and listened as the footsteps behind the curtain walked out of the bathroom and into the office. She heard the tea kettle boiling, and the other familiar morning sounds. She wondered if she should get up, but then remembered it was Saturday. Snape didn't seem to be one for sleeping in.

Leah closed her eyes again and rested on the pillow. After a few moments, she heard footsteps again, coming back into the sitting room. Suddenly, she heard the curtain being pulled aside, and saw Snape standing right there, looking at her. What could he want? she thought.

"Good morning," he said, softly. His voice sounded almost kind.

"Oh, good morning," she said, sitting up quickly in the bed.

"How did you sleep?"

"Er, fine." She wanted to ask him what he was doing, but didn't want to sound like she was upset with him. He entered through the curtain and sat down next to her on the bed. Leah just stared at him, dazed. What on earth? She wasn't used to being so close to him. She caught a whiff of his scent, and also of tea. Before she even realized it was happening, he had slipped his arm around her waist.

"W-what are you doing?" she decided to ask.

"Just sitting with you. Is that okay?"

"Sure, I mean, it's fine, I... just... "

He was looking into her eyes. She looked back. His dark, piercing eyes somehow seemed to show care and concern.

"I just want to make sure you're okay. I do worry about you sometimes, you know."

"Oh. Okay. Well..." Now he was holding her hand with his other hand. She felt his warm touch on hers and butterflies began fluttering in her stomach. She couldn't believe it. All of a sudden, he wanted her? She decided to be bold and leaned her head up against his chest. She felt his cheek rest against the top of her head. The butterflies went crazy again. It was quiet as they sat for several moments, with no sound but relaxed breathing.

Leah finally decided to break the silence. She had to make sure this wasn't a dream. "Severus, I really had no idea you felt this way."

"I don't know why," he replied. "I just can't stop thinking about you."

At those words, Leah's stomach plummeted. She felt like ice water had been dumped over her insides. She had heard words like that before, and not from Snape - from poor 14-year-old boys who'd been duped into ingesting love potion.

 _No, no, this can't be!_ she said to herself. The realization was agony. She wanted to just stay here next to him for the rest of the day. But she knew she wouldn't be able to. She could already feel his hand stroking the strip of bare skin showing between her top and pajama shorts. He would keep going if she let him. She felt all tingly. She dared not look up at his face for fear that he'd take it as an invitation to kiss her. But oh, how she wanted that... But no, she couldn't do it. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. He hadn't consented to this. She couldn't imagine how it had happened, but she was sure it wasn't his decision, and that meant she was taking something that wasn't hers by continuing.

As painful as it was, she withdrew and stood up. She knew she'd have to just get it done or she'd lose her mind.

"Where are you going?" he asked, in a concerned tone.

"I... just... I need to go check something in the office," she said, grabbing her wand and glasses, and slipping out. He followed her.

She spotted his mug on the desk as she entered the office, and quickly performed the spell to display the ingredients. Sure enough, his tea had love potion in it. Leah's heart sank. She had been holding out one small hope, but even that was gone. Suddenly, she felt him slip his arms around her waist from behind, and hold her there gently. She could feel his breath against her hair.

But I want this so badly! she screamed in her head. It took everything in her to peel his arms off and turn and face him.

"Severus, dear, do you keep antidotes somewhere around here?"

"What?" he asked, distractedly. "Oh, sure, right in that cabinet behind the desk." Leah opened it up, and was relieved to see that everything was clearly labeled. Of course he would be this prepared, being head of one of the Houses. That way she could just get it over with. She pulled out the bottle labeled "Love Potion," and poured a small amount into a goblet she had pulled out of the air.

"Here we go, why don't you drink this all down, darling."

"What is it?"

"It's just some medicine you need. Do it for me, please," she smiled up at him, hoping he wouldn't notice how pained her smile was.

"Oh, all right." He drank it down. Several moments passed, while he stood still, as if pondering something. Gradually, his face hardened, and his brow furrowed in an angry sort of way. Leah wanted to cry.

He sank into his desk chair and looked at her questioningly.

"What just happened?" he asked. His regular Snape tone was back with a vengeance.

"Well, somehow you had love potion in your tea. So I just gave you the antidote."

"What? Who put it in there?" he asked, threateningly.

"Well it certainly wasn't ME!" Leah almost shouted, annoyed that he'd even be considering such a thing.

"Who else would have had access to my mug? Or rather... the water. That must have been it. I don't usually change the water." With that, he confirmed with a flick of his wand that the kettle had been the source, and proceeded to clean it out.

"I'm so sorry, I can't imagine why anyone would do that," said Leah.

"You're sorry? I'm sorry! You're the one who was inflicted with the effects of all this."

"Do you remember what you did?"

"It's fuzzy. But anyway... I'm sorry you went through it all the same."

"It's okay. My real problem was that you hadn't consented to it."

"Knew it was out of character, did you?"

"No. What tipped me off was when you said you couldn't stop thinking about me. That's a classic love-potion-induced phrase. Although, honestly, I should have known from the beginning that something wasn't right."

"Indeed."

"But wouldn't you have gone after whoever put the love potion there? Can it be manipulated like that?"

"It can," said Snape. "Much like polyjuice potion. With a hair or something of the intended person, it can be done."

Suddenly, a thought dawned on Leah. "Marley," she moaned.

"What?"

"I... think it might have been Marley."

"Well... call her then!"

"Only if you promise you won't hurt her or yell at her!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Oh fine."

"Marley!" Leah called. "Could you come here?"

Marley arrived with a pop. She was shrinking and twisting her hands together nervously. Guilt was written all over her face.

Leah stepped up to her. "Marley," she said gently. "I need you to tell me the truth. Did you put love potion in Professor Snape's tea kettle?"

"Oh Mistress Leah, Marley did, and Marley is so sorry!" she wailed. Large tears started falling down her face. "Marley is just wanting to make you happy, Mistress Leah."

Snape sneered at Leah. "What on earth have you been saying to her?"

"Nothing!" Leah snapped. "She did catch me crying last night when I was in bed, but I didn't tell her anything about why, and I've never said a word to her about you. But she did say she wanted to do something to fix it. That's not a fix anyone needs though."

"Indeed!"

"Marley," Leah said, returning to the elf. "I'm so glad that you were concerned about me. But you have to know, it's never okay to give love potion to someone else. That's because it makes the person do things they don't have control over, and it means they aren't able to consent to what they're doing. And that can cause problems." Leah wasn't sure how much was getting through to the elf, but her big eyes were watching Leah closely as she talked.

"Marley did not mean for that to be happening!" she began crying again.

"I know, Marley. And you know what? Professor Snape had the antidote right here, so it's all over now. We're okay. So thank you so much for wanting to help me. I'm not angry at you, I just want you to remember not to do that again, okay?"

"Okay, Mistress Leah. Marley will always do as Mistress Leah says."

"You may go now. Thank you, Marley." She disapparated with a pop, wiping her eyes, but not looking nearly as agitated as she had in the beginning.

Snape was watching with an incredulous look on his face. He looked over to Leah and saw how stricken she appeared.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just... how do you explain consent to someone who's never even had any to begin with?"


	8. Cold Rain and Mulled Mead

Leah tried all day not to dwell on the events of the morning. It wasn't easy, but she knew it would only make her more miserable. She tried to be upset with Marley, but couldn't stay that way for very long. So she went on a spur-of-the-moment visit to Hogsmeade and wandered around for over two hours, just visiting the shops and seeing the sights.

As 6 o'clock drew nearer, she began rehearsing in her mind how she would talk to Severus. She couldn't say she felt shame in herself, but anticipated that perhaps he would still be feeling uncomfortable about things, and she didn't want him to feel awkward around her because of it. She thought ahead of some topics of small talk she could revert to if she found herself in need of them.

She approached his office at 5:55, and to her surprise, found it locked. She wondered if he was busy or occupied with something. But as the minutes ticked by, she thought she really must get his attention, or else she'd be pushed up against the door by the enchantment. Actually, she wondered what exactly would happen if she was drawn somewhere that was blocked. Would it just keep pulling her, or would it somehow magically open the door? She had no idea. She knocked loudly on the door.

"Severus? Are you there?" There was no answer. Leah glanced at her watch again. 5:59. She called again, but heard nothing. Suddenly, she felt herself moving along the floor, but the enchantment was pulling her away from the office. It brought her up the stairs, and along the hallways. Leah tried to walk along with it, and may have appeared normally to some people, but anyone paying attention would have seen that her feet were barely touching the floor. She realized she was being pulled through the Great Hall where people were still milling around after dinner. She kept her head down and hoped no one was watching her. The idea of being a spectacle was incredibly humiliating.

She was pulled farther and farther until she reached the doors, and wondered what on earth was going to happen. She approached quicker and quicker, and was in no position to grab for the handle, nor did she see anyone around who was. The force pressed her up against the solid wood door, so painfully she almost cried out. She felt as though she was being sucked into a hundred funnels too small for her, and before she knew it, her face had emerged on the other side, and the rest of her body soon followed, as pain shot through her. She covered her mouth to muffle her cry, and her arms ached with the movement. As she flew on, the pain dropped to a dull ache through all her joints and a soreness in all her muscles. It was raining outside, and the rain pounded down on her, soaking through her clothes.

She was now rapidly approaching the gates of Hogwarts, and right as she was poised to be sucked through them also, she collided with a large black shape. Both her and Snape were thrown to the ground and landed in a large puddle of mud. Snape was spitting and cursing under his breath as he quickly stood up. Leah tried, but could barely manage to sit up.

"I'm so sorry, Leah. Here," he reached out his hand to help her up. She managed to stand, but nearly collapsed against him as her legs were still weak and wobbly. She leaned heavily against his arm that was around her shoulders, and was surprised at how strong he was.

"What's the matter? Are you hurt?"

"It... pulled me through the door..." she managed.

"Oh dear. I tried that in my younger days. Not a pleasant feeling, especially if you're not prepared for it. Here, sit down." He led her to a stump near the path, and helped her sit. The tree above provided brief shelter from the rain. "The best course is to simply apparate through the wall, but of course that's not possible on the Hogwarts grounds."

"I know a spell that should help," Leah said weakly, trying to retrieve her wand from under her robes. When she finally got it out, her hand was shaking so much that she hit the grass next to her instead of her own leg. Snape reached out and placed his hand over hers to steady the wand. She was successful the next time, and felt a creeping, tingling feeling pulsing through her, and immediately felt strong enough to stand again. All that was left was soreness in most of her muscles.

"Well," she said, her voice sounding much stronger, "that was a new one."

"I'm so very sorry," Snape apologized again. "That was poor planning on my part. I didn't make enough consideration for having to walk all the way up here from the edge of the grounds after apparating," he said, as they trudged back up to the doors, the rain pounding over them.

"I understand. Mistakes happen."

"Yes, they do. I'm just glad you're a nicer person than I am."

Leah shrugged.

"How about we get this cleaned off before going in?" he asked, and with a few waves of his wand, had removed the mud and mostly dried their clothing and hair. Leah didn't notice any funny looks from the people they passed through the Great Hall, but knew she must have still looked a mess. She was very curious about what Snape had been up to at this time of day, but decided not to ask him anything just yet.

They arrived at his office, and Snape asked how she was feeling.

"All right. Sore. I know the rain is gone but I still feel chilled."

"Probably you should take a bath."

"That sounds wonderful. You'd be all right with me borrowing your tub?"

"Of course. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, I can find it." She went into the bathroom and began running a nice warm tub of water.

"Hang on a moment. Have you ever used coveberry potion?"

"No, but I've heard of it."

"It's very good for muscle aches. I can mix up a dose if you'd like. It'll only take a few minutes."

"That would be fine." Leah heard some noises from Snape going from place to place and opening and closing things in the office, and had just finished drawing the bath when he walked in and poured a steaming, lavender-colored concoction into the water. It swirled and bubbled, producing a wonderful scent that Leah had never smelled before.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Take your time."

Once the door closed, Leah removed all of her stiff, quick-dried clothes, and stepped into the claw-footed tub. The water felt amazing. It warmed and soothed, and before long all of her limbs felt relaxed and whole again. She leaned her shoulders back over the edge and breathed deeply. The she submerged up to her neck and rested. All too soon, she decided she shouldn't hog the tub any longer, and stood up to let the water down and rinse under the shower head. She stood under the warm water for a while, and then reluctantly got out and toweled dry.

"That was amazing," she said, walking out in her dressing gown, combing her wet hair. Snape was seated next to the door.

"I'm glad," he smiled, as he got up. "So what song was that you were singing?"

Leah reddened. "Was I singing something?"

"While the shower was going."

"Oh. Right, when the water's going I forget I can be heard."

"I'm not saying there was any problem. Just can't place the tune."

"It was 'Blinded' by Cold Coven. I don't listen to them anymore though, I promise."

Snape was clearly amused. "Oh, I won't judge you. Much." He got up to take his turn in the bathroom.

Leah sighed. "Shall I make some tea while you're bathing?"

"Actually, I think I'd prefer something stronger tonight. How about you?"

"Definitely. What do you have?"

Snape walked over to a small liquor cabinet and looked inside. "Well, I have some Merlot, and also... Oh! This would be a great night for mulled mead. Have you ever had that?"

"No, but it sounds lovely."

"Here we go," he said, pulling out a bottle, and a cauldron, which he was sure to specify he _only_ used for mulled beverages. He gave Leah the instructions, and she heated it up and added the spices while he was in the bathroom, and before long they were both sitting in comfortable chairs holding warm mugs of mead, with a large fire crackling in the fireplace. Leah thought Snape looked different somehow. Then she realized he had washed his hair. But not only that - his dark, billowing robes made him seem bigger and more intimidating. In a dressing gown, he appeared more at home, vulnerable, and maybe even more human. Of course, his face was still absolutely Snape.

"Mmmmmmm..." said Leah. "This is really good. You've ruined regular mead for me forever."

"Sorry," he shrugged. "On the subject of sorry though... I really am sorry for tonight. It shouldn't happen again."

"It's okay. The remedy was worth the inconvenience. I suppose you're probably not going to tell me what you were up to," she said, somewhat questioningly.

"No, it's too long of a story," he said, with another shrug.

"I understand." She had a feeling there was more to the reason than simply the length of the story. There was a pause.

"So, on the subject of going through closed doors..." she began.

Snape snickered. "Yes, you've seen why that's not advisable."

"But it's possible? I mean, even without this enchantment?"

"Oh yes. But the only way I know of is to take a potion that requires a fair amount of time to make, and then there is an incantation, and even then, you have to try and keep your body as limp as possible and lean into the surface. There's quite a learning curve to the technique. Probably not quite something you would have thought to do tonight. Wood and fences are preferred. Stone is excruciating."

Leah smirked. "Had a little fun in your Hogwarts days, eh?"

Snape shrugged. "I learned a lot from experimenting. But I never tried that one again."

"Speaking of my Hogwarts days, there is something, though," he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, while he took another long sip of mead, "that I should probably tell you. Well, it's not that I feel required to, so much as that I think you might as well hear it."

"Oh?"

His brow was furrowed as if he was trying to think of the best way to begin. "I've told you what I was in my past. I don't know that I told you about why I left the Death Eaters."

"No, you didn't."

"Well..." he spoke slowly and deliberately, with pauses every so often. "When I was younger, I was best friends with a girl named Lily Evans. She was Muggle-born, and we had a bit of a falling out during our time at Hogwarts, which I take full responsibility for since I called her an unpleasant name in a fit of annoyance. Anyway... eventually the Dark Lord killed her. She had already married someone else and had a child. But... I still loved her. And I still do. And I always will."

Leah's mouth was hanging open. "Oh Severus... that's terrible! I'm so sorry."

"Yes, well... it was a long time ago now. Fifteen years. But, and this is the part that may sort of concern you..." he sighed. "After much denial and grief, as well as a couple rebound relationships that turned out about as well as rebounds tend to... I made the decision to begin taking a potion that I'd read about in an old book I found. Its purpose was to, in essence, act as a mild repressant to sexual urges. I didn't think I'd keep taking it, but it worked very well, so... here I am."

Leah was looking puzzled. "So... you've been magically repressing yourself for fifteen years now?"

"Well, just the baser urges. It's not as though I don't still feel grief, or attraction, or pain... I'm still the same person."

"But it prevents you from something like, falling in love?"

"Probably. I don't take a very large dose. But it doesn't stop me from loving her."

"So... have you ever considered-"

"No."

Leah was surprised at his confidence. "Okay."

"I believe it's also given me a greater degree of focus on my work, which came in handy as a hormonal twenty-something, and still does today."

"Are you afraid of what would happened if you went off it - would all the memories with her suddenly come back?"

"All my memories are intact. And my friendship with Lily was entirely platonic, so this isn't about those kinds of memories, it was more the edge that they carried, as well as the misery of everything that came after."

Snape was sounding more agitated, and Leah thought perhaps she should stop questioning him. "I see. Well, thank you for sharing all of that with me. I'm sure it's not easy to talk about." She tried not to sound as sad as she felt.

"It's not something I really tell anyone, so please don't spread it around."

"I won't. I promise."

"Thank you."

There was a pause as Leah tried to contemplate everything he'd said.

"So... this is partly why I live alone, and prefer it that way. And I don't mean anything against you. You've been far easier to live with than I have, and I'm sorry for everything this has put you through. And I also thank you for the way you handled things this morning. But we have less than a month left, and you'll be free of me."

"You say that like it's something I should be relieved about."

Snape shrugged. "It is what it is. I just... the idea that Marley thought she could fix your problems the way she did made me think that maybe you should know this."

"I see... thank you - and I recognize that you don't owe me any of your personal information. Of course, we both know that Marley was wrong."

"But she observes things. They all do."

"I suppose so," Leah's voice had dropped quieter as she finished the last of her mead. Well, apparently he knew then. He knew that she wanted him.

"And... is a love potion strong enough to override what you're taking?"

"Most likely. I was also due for another dose this morning, so there's a possibility that it lapsed during the night."

Leah nodded. She felt a painful and terrible kind of peace trying to overtake her. On the one hand, he had given her information that actually made a whole lot of sense (she was sure none of his colleagues would disbelieve the idea that he hadn't been with a woman in a very very long time), and felt like it could provide closure. But at the same time, it felt like a slam in her face, even though it was something that had been going on long before she came into the picture. He was so afraid of feeling the pain of the past that he was refusing to give the present a chance. Which was really just telling her that the present or potential future were not enough to motivate him to try. So either way, she felt terrible about herself.

Snape seemed uncomfortable. "More mead?" he asked.

"Please," she said, weakly. She knew there was still so much she didn't know about him.

"So," he said, after refilling their mugs, "now that we've been all over my business, do you feel like switching things around? I don't know that much about you."

Leah didn't really feel like it - surely he didn't mean it as anything more than a formality. But at the same time, she wanted to keep talking with him.

"Sure... well... you know I'm Muggle-born."

"Yes. When did you find out you had powers?"

"I was... well, I always knew there was something different about me. But it was really around nine or so that I finally realized I could do things others couldn't."

"Was your family supportive of it?"

"Yes, they were, and are, which I'm grateful for. A lot of classmates weren't so lucky."

"True. I've seen that quite a bit. Lily was the same way... many of her family members were ashamed of her."

Leah bristled internally at the mention of the name, but was instantly ashamed of herself. There was no reason to resent a dead woman. Except that it meant she wasn't able to measure up to her. She groaned inwardly as she sensed the self-pity wave coming on, and was determined not to give in.

"That's too bad."

"So... you must have been at Hogwarts not very long after I started teaching then."

"Yes, I imagine. But I wouldn't have paid much attention at that age."

"True," Snape said, taking another sip of mead. Leah had almost emptied her mug. She wanted to withdraw and go to bed to brood, but she also really wanted to stay near him. But she was also afraid that the mead might start talking instead.

"So did you go to university for potions?" Leah asked.

"Oh dear, now we're talking about me again," Snape replied, playfully.

"I'm boring," Leah shrugged.

"No you aren't."

"Well, you already know all the important things about me. I'm Muggle-born, I went to Hogwarts, I'm a Hufflepuff, I went to university to be an assistant healer, and now I'm back here."

Snape made a face. "Well, then what did you think of Gottlieb's book? Or had you already read that one?"

"I had... but it was still nice to re-read. It helps to cement in my mind the idea of what power means and how to treat people. Have you read The Attitude of Love?"

"I think we read excerpts from that one at school. That's about how we see people?"

"Yes. The idea is that love is more than a feeling (which we probably all know to an extent), but that love is really more about how we value others. He gives the example of marital arguments and some divorces, where it's more than just that the couple has 'lost feelings' for each other, it's also that they do not treat each other as having value. He even makes the claim that almost all fights and arguments can go back to that principle of value. I found it a fascinating read... especially just seeing how he takes a simple premise and applies it to so many different facets of actual life, both in the magical community and in the Muggle world."

"Hmmmmm... interesting."

"Oh definitely. And it's not just about seeing value in other people. It's about understanding your own value. He argues that it's nearly impossible to truly treat others as valuable if you don't first see yourself as valuable. And not in the sense of being proud or conceited, which people often use to puff themselves up because they don't actually believe in their own worth, but in simply accepting that you have an inherent value that goes beyond your accomplishments or personality or anything. The idea is that our insecurities can have so much power because they cause us to try to tear others down to puff ourselves up. If we understood our value, we wouldn't feel the need to do that." She had grown animated over the theories she believed in so much, and had begun talking with her hands as well, trying to keep her mug steady between her legs.

"Of course," she continued "it's so much easier said than done. I can have the idea in my head, which is a start, but in real life it can be very difficult to treat people as valuable. It's the little things that trip me up. But I guess you could say that in a way Gottlieb inspired me to go into the healing arts, because it seemed a good way to help people. Pretty good for a man who's been dead for 300 years," she grinned.

"Sounds like his ideas wouldn't be in much favor these days. But I hope you'll lend me at least one of those."

"I have them both. Just say the word."

They continued to talk for several more minutes, but the night was clearly winding down. Leah began yawning, which led to Snape doing the same, so they bid each other goodnight. Leah hoped the mead would send her off to sleep quickly. She was simply tired of thinking.


	9. The Breaking

Snape was mostly pleasant over the next couple of weeks. There was work to do in the evenings, detentions to oversee in his office, and Leah even found herself in an evening staff meeting since it was the only way he could attend. Leah found it harder and harder to believe that their time together was winding down. She was also feeling a growing sense of unease at the reports she was seeing in the news, and the whispers from the staff and students at the way the world was going. Finally, one night she asked Snape about it while he was working.

"Severus? What do you think You-Know-Who is planning to do?"

He looked surprised for a moment. "Er... why are you asking me?"

"Well... you used to be a Death Eater. You had an inside scoop."

"I did. But... I couldn't tell you these days. I do know his desire for power is insatiable. He will probably try to gain more followers until his army is big enough to be quite forceful." Leah was shocked at how he could make such dire predictions with so little emotion.

"That's terrible! And scary. Don't hate me for this, but Defense against the Dark Arts was my worst subject, unfortunately. It's the only one I didn't Owl in. So maybe I have more reason to be scared than some. Are you scared?"

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"It's not really all of a sudden... it's been building for months - people are afraid of what he'll do, and whether anyone can stop him. I'm not really too terrified as long as we have Dumbledore though."

"Yes, of course," said Snape, in his usual deadpan.

"What do you think about Harry Potter? Will he be able to stop You-Know-Who?"

"I have no idea," said Snape, suddenly sounding crankier. Leah figured she was annoying him and went back to her book.

* * *

But Leah didn't want to let the subject drop. She'd been hearing about Harry Potter for months, and while the newspapers has gone back and forth as to his role, she knew the staff at Hogwarts seemed mostly to believe in him.

"So what do you think of Harry Potter? Is he an exceptional student or anything?"

"No. In fact, his work is barely average most of the time."

"So he doesn't have any special abilities that you know of?"

"No. I don't notice anything outstanding about the boy except his father's penchant for causing trouble."

"Oh... okay."

* * *

For some reason, the week leading up to the projected Day of the Enchantment Breaking seemed to fly by. The potion bubbled away in its place as usual, and Leah found it hard to believe that soon it would no longer be there... and that _she_ would no longer be there. She was amazed at how much three months could change her. She had long grown to expect and enjoy the evenings when she and Snape could relax in the sitting room and read with their tea after a long day of work. It was all she could do not to speculate as to what their relationship would be after all of this was over. Would he acknowledge her in public places? Would he ask how she was doing when she dropped off a delivery, or would he just revert to the usual pseudo-pleasantries? Would they ever have an evening together again? "Stop thinking about that!" she would demand in her head, knowing she was just making herself more miserable.

Finally, the last evening arrived. The potion was set to be consumed the next morning and then, ideally, they would retire to their separate chambers that evening and assume that everything would be back to normal. She would pack her things up before breakfast, take them out, and probably never set foot in his office again unless official business required it. It seemed too painful to think about, and so she tried not to.

Snape sat in his place as usual. His once-washed hair was now looking decidedly unwashed as usual, and he was hard at work marking essays, organizing ingredients, and other tasks as usual.

"I have a detention tonight," he informed her. Leah groaned inwardly. That meant more time in the office and less time in the sitting room together.

"Who is it this time?"

"Harry Potter."

"Oh."

Harry arrived at 8 o'clock, and Snape gave him his task. Leah didn't always enjoy being with Snape when he had a student there, because he always took on his very teacherly demeanor, which was sometimes not very pleasant. There were several boxes piled in the office, and Snape informed Harry that he was to be sorting through the infraction records from the days when his parents were at school, expressly pointing out the names he might encounter. Leah was shocked in spite of herself. She realized that James Potter was his father who had been murdered by Voldemort, and also realized that Sirius was the godfather that he had lost just the previous year - she had heard stories about the battle from Madam Pomfrey.

And Snape was deliberately forcing this boy to encounter the memories of his deceased loved ones as a punishment? Goodness, what had he done? She tried to focus on her book, but she couldn't stop thinking. She hated it when she couldn't stop thinking, but she was on edge this evening, and her anxiety made it almost impossible for her to follow the train of thought in her book. She looked over the binding and watched Harry work. He seemed focused, in a sad sort of way... not really sullen, but not necessarily happy either. She felt bad for him. It was a long night of work before Snape let him go.

He finally began the process of locking up the office for the night, and found Leah already waiting for him before he was done. They entered the sitting room together, and Leah, her anxiety rising, was determined to ask him about what she'd witnessed.

"So, why did you pick that particular task for him? Isn't that rather cruel?"

"I don't know, is it? Would you rather be the one to teach classes all day and deal with all my student problems?" he asked, in a snarky tone.

"No, it's just... what did his father do that makes you so upset with him?"

"Well if you must know, he was an arrogant bully, and he also married the woman I love, if that adds anything to it," he said bitterly.

The sudden realization dawned on Leah. "Wait a minute, so... Lily Evans... was Lily Potter? You loved Harry Potter's mother?"

"Do love! And yes."

"As you should. But... if you really love her, why would you treat her only son that way - the one she died for? Do you like seeing him in pain?"

Snape whirled around and faced her. "What I do is my business and I'll thank you to stay out of it, you who will be here only a few mere hours longer!"

But Leah was getting angry, and wasn't going to let things go so quickly this time. "Forgive me, Severus, but I have a hard time understanding how you can have SO much love for a dead woman and yet so little for the living people who are actually around you every day!" Her voice rose to keep up with his loud curse in response. He was livid. His eyes blazed, and he had drawn his wand out of his robes.

He lowered his wand and drew closer to her. "What's the matter, Leah?" he asked, treacherously. "Are you jealous? Envious that a woman who is no longer alive merits more devotion than you do?" He knew he had hit a nerve. She had been referring to all the various people around him, but realized she was included in that as well. Leah felt her emotions rising, but told herself she was NOT going to run away this time. Her tears spilled out down her face as she continued to fix him with her intense, passionate gaze. She knew it was all over now. He would not want to speak to her again, and whatever vain hopes she had held out for this future were extinguished. But she couldn't leave without telling him how she felt.

"Severus," she said in a pained voice. "Do you understand that you're valuable? You don't seem to act it... you don't take care of yourself. And if I may be bold enough, could it be that this potion of yours is an act of fear? That you're afraid that if you stop taking it and are forced to live in the present, you won't be worthy of love?"

He had whirled around and headed for his door, but was stopped short by the enchantment. "Let me go!" he roared. Leah stood her ground.

"Severus, please. Whatever else happens-" her voice broke, but she kept on speaking through the tears, "Please understand that you have value far beyond your own bravado or accomplishments. And not because I say it, but because it just is. Please believe that. Please remember it." She stepped forward, and he flung himself headlong through the doorway without looking back, slamming the door hard behind him. Leah knelt on the floor near her curtain and cried until she had no tears left. It felt like she was grieving the death of something. Then she walked to her bed in a dazed state, and threw herself down on the covers without undressing.

* * *

Leah woke up earlier than usual. Her eyes were puffy and her mouth felt weird. Then she remembered she hadn't been able to brush her teeth the night before. She couldn't believe she had actually slept in her robes. The feelings of the night before came rushing back onto her. Usually a night of sleep brought peace, but she still felt the ache of loss deep inside her. It was as over as it was going to be. All she needed to do was drink the potion. She wiggled out of her robes to get more comfortable. She wished she could just get up now and leave before Snape did, but she had to be there to drink the potion. She wouldn't want him thinking she'd tried to skip out... not after last night's row.

Finally, an hour later, she heard him walk through the room to the office. She slipped out of bed and threw on her dressing gown, then began packing all of her belongings from the under-the-bed drawers. After a quick scan of the bathroom, she decided she had everything. She took another look at the Gottlieb books in her bag. Magic and Might, and The Attitude of Love. He would never ask to borrow them now, but she wanted him to have them anyway. She could always find other copies. Well, perhaps not if You-Know-Who took over. She shivered. Grabbing a quill, she quickly wrote her name on the inside cover of each book, and placed them in the corner of the chair he always sat in. She stared at them for several moments. A parting gift. She hoped he wouldn't throw them away.

Leah sat on the edge of her bed for several moments, breathing deeply. She had tried to make her face look presentable. It was time to face him again. It was now or never. She stood up, threw the curtain aside, and made her way to the door.

Snape had apparently heard her coming. He was standing in the middle of the room. The little potion table had been moved out in front of his desk, and there were two glasses of potion sitting on it. His face was as deadpan and unreadable as ever. Leah wasn't sure if that was better or worse than a remaining trace of anger.

"Shall we?" he asked, quietly.

"Yes," mumbled Leah. She was hoping to hide how much her hands were trembling. They both picked up a glass, and drank it down quickly. Leah gagged and made a horrible face. "Oh Merlin! It tastes like feet."

"It tastes like freedom," muttered Snape. Leah set her glass down and immediately refilled it with water to get the taste out of her mouth. By the time she was done, Snape had returned to his desk and sat with one hand holding The Daily Prophet, and the other holding his mug for occasional sips of tea.

Leah returned to her bags, and started heading for the door. She turned and looked at him again. His face was barely visible behind the newspaper. She decided to be bold. Quickly, she crossed to his desk, and gently squeezed his hand and released it. "Take care of yourself, Severus," she said in almost a whisper. He made no response. She went out the door and shut it behind her. Walking back up the hallway for the last time, she was glad she had used up all her tears the night before.

The day passed faster than Leah thought it would. Madam Pomfrey had wished her a tepid congratulations, but could clearly see that Leah was not exactly in a celebratory mood. And of course, it had been one of the rare delivery days. And of course, there had been a box for Snape. Leah finally had to break down and tell Madam Pomfrey the broad details of the past evening, and then asked if she could do her a favor. She had only to say the words "There is a box for..." when Madam Pomfrey had interrupted, "Absolutely." Leah was grateful to not have to go down there. She knew that if Snape spoke to her she'd probably cry, and if he ignored her she probably would too.

She was resting on her own bed that evening, glad to have her feet up. There was certainly a part of her that had missed her old room, and the freedom to move around at any time without feeling like she was inconveniencing anyone. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:52. She tried to force herself not to check it every minute.

Of course, the possibility that a Potions Master like Snape would brew a potion incorrectly almost boggled the mind, even as complicated as it was. She began to rethink all the questions she had thought before the row, as well as others. Would he acknowledge her in public? How much did he hate her right now? Had he noticed the books yet? Had he simply waved his wand and destroyed them, or were they resting safely in his room somewhere? She wondered what his room looked like. He'd probably moved his bed back already to wherever it had been. Heck, he'd probably done that first thing in the morning.

5:54.

Would he be as lonely as she was that evening? Maybe he'd have another student doing a detention that night. No... he'd probably be fine. He was probably very happy. How impudent she had been to make such statements to him. But she'd meant them... so weren't they the truth? But what if he didn't understand where she was coming from? What if she was so deep in theory that she missed his human side? _Just shut up!_ she said in her head.

5:57.

He was probably only feigning interest in her reading joys for the sake of giving her something to talk about. And then she couldn't help but remember the morning of the love potion, and how she'd rested her head against his chest, feeling his arm around her. His strong hand steadying her wand. His bustling around to make her a potion to help her feel better. But he probably just felt bad since it was his fault she'd been hurt. Still, he would often pre-emptively make her tea. His intensely focused gaze when he was doing his work, or figuring out potion formulas. His dark eyes and long, dark hair, even though he hardly ever washed it. The way he'd roll his eyes every time she made a pun. The mulled mead they'd shared. The velvety sound of his voice, even when he was in a bad mood. The way he walked, so confident and intimidating sometimes, and yet she'd stopped being afraid of him a long time ago. How she never had to worry about handling an unpleasant confrontation because he was good at that kind of thing. When he told her to stop apologizing. The two times he'd held her - one by his own choice, the other not. The time he'd told her she was jealous of a dead woman, and he was probably right, and that's why it hurt so much.

 _Stop, stop, stop!_ she told herself. She looked at the clock again.

6:04.


	10. A Death and a Funeral

The next day, Leah finally decided to find Tonks and see if she had any Friday night plans. She didn't. The two of them spent the evening at The Three Broomsticks, and while Leah drank a bit more than she'd planned, it felt good to be able to get many of her thoughts out in the open. She had to be careful because she'd promised Snape she wouldn't reveal his secret to anyone, and she intended to honor it. Two drinks into the night, she admitted that one of her biggest fears was that Snape had been right about what he'd said about her.

"Leelee girl, Snape just does that because he's Snape. He's an expert at finding people's insecurities, and then poking at them. Repeatedly. It's his specialty. So don't feel bad. Earlier in the term he told me my new patronus was 'weak.'"

"You got a new patronus?"

"Yes. It's... a wolf now. Same as Remus's."

"Oh. I didn't realize that could happen."

"It can. Usually only if you've been in love with someone for a while though. But anyway, he finds little things like that and picks at them. He does it to everyone," said Tonks.

"I know, I've seen it, I just... kinda hoped I wasn't part of 'everyone' anymore."

"But you were having a row. People fall back to their baser instincts when their emotions run high. I'd be more worried if he _wasn't_ passionately angry."

"But, Dora... do you think I really was jealous of Lily? And isn't that pretty pathetic if I am? I mean, she was a rather incredible and brave woman, fighting for her son like that. I have nothing but respect for her in that regard. The problem with Snape is that he ruffles feathers so often because he's usually _right_."

"Often he is, but he misses the big picture. He's so good at finding the insecurities, that he doesn't always see or understand what they _mean_."

"Maybe that's why he's so insecure," said Leah.

"You think?"

"Yeah. He wouldn't be doing this to people if he viewed himself in a healthy way."

"I was being sarcastic. Of course he's insecure. But you're probably the first person who's had the guts to call him out on that in quite a while. So congratulations!"

"Yeah... I just... still feel bad... like I could have said things differently. I have no right to judge his insecurities! Goodness knows I have enough of my own," Leah sighed.

"Leelee... I'm trying to think of the last time I heard of or engaged in any kind of argument that ended with one person telling the other one how valuable they are... I mean seriously, calm down. If he doesn't get it he doesn't get it... you did what you could do."

"Okay... I know I overanalyze things way too much, I'm sorry. I've seriously cried more in the past couple months than the whole year before that put together."

"I would too if I'd been in your situation. It's okay to cry. Just don't beat yourself up over it." The words meant a lot coming from Tonks, especially given her own situation.

* * *

Leah threw herself into her work over the next few weeks. She took over a few evening shifts in the infirmary to give Madam Pomfrey a break, and spent much time in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout, helping to finalize plans for the summer work.

She rarely saw Snape. Sometimes she'd notice him at the far end of the staff table, and once she had to walk past him having a conversation with Professor Slughorn, and caught the brief sound of his voice again, which made her insides flutter for a moment, but she kept right on going. She never so much as sought out a glance from him, because she knew that if she did he'd simply avoid her gaze anyway.

She was glad that May had arrived. The weather was becoming slightly more pleasant, and for whatever combination of reasons that she couldn't quite figure out, Leah began running. Most weekends, and after work if there was enough light, she would change into her old athletic robes and take a few laps around the field, and sometimes other portions of the grounds. Every time she returned, she was glad she'd done it. She started sleeping better, and feeling like she had more energy.

She felt more at peace, despite the unease in the Magical community. The year was heading for a successful end.

* * *

Leah wasn't sure whether it was the scream or the sound of running footsteps that awoke her. She sat up in bed and listened. There seemed to be silence. After a minute she lay back down, but was uneasy. A few minutes later, there was an unmistakable sound of a clatter. She jumped out of bed, threw on her glasses and a dressing gown, and grabbed her wand before heading out her door.

She illuminated her wand so she could see down the hallway. She ran in the direction of the noises, but stopped short. It definitely sounded like fighting was going on. She heard sounds of shouting, from voices that sounded like adults. Perplexed, Leah decided to swing by the infirmary to make sure no one was already hurt.

When she got there, the lights were on. Madam Pomfrey looked relieved to see her.

"Leah! I was just about to send for you. We need help here."

"What's happened?"

"The castle is under attack!"

"Attack? From who?"

"Death Eaters."

"What? How on earth did they get in?"

"I don't know that yet. First things first."

"Yes, right."

"Here, Neville over there needs some burburus balm applied to his injuries."

Leah worked quickly and efficiently, but her head was spinning. She couldn't help it, but at the mention of the term "Death Eater," she had first thought of Snape. She wondered where he was. Perhaps he would know how to deal with them, since he had been one. She hoped he was okay. But of course... he was a very powerful wizard. There was no one better to deal with any kind of dark arts attack, except for Dumbledore, of course.

Tonks poked her head in and said to brace themselves, because there was a bad one. Leah saw what she meant when they brought the man in. His face was covered in blood and shredded skin. Leah gasped.

"What on earth...?" she began.

"Bill Weasley. Fenrir Greyback got him, though he wasn't transformed fortunately. They're gone now, don't worry. The castle is clear." Leah assisted Madam Pomfrey as she quickly tended to his wounds as best she could. She wondered what Bill Weasley had been doing at Hogwarts.

One by one, students and a few teachers began trickling into the infirmary to have their mostly minor injuries treated. Leah lost track of time as she went back and forth seeing to patients and performing crowd control when necessary. Eventually the crowds began to thin, and then Bill's family showed up. Tonks popped in too, and quickly introduced Leah to Remus, who was with her. Leah wasn't able to talk to him, but thought he seemed nice, and thoughtful-looking.

Leah ducked out into the back room to give Bill some time with his family, and saw Madam Pomfrey sitting in the corner, staring at the cabinets in front of her. It was unlike her to not be busy with something.

"Is something wrong?" Leah asked.

"Dumbledore," she said simply. "He's dead."

Leah's mouth hung open and she couldn't find the voice to say anything for several moments.

"But... he... how? Are you sure?"

"Professor McGonagall just informed me. I don't know many of the details."

"Who could have killed him? He's so... well... he's... he's Dumbledore!"

"I know. I imagine it must have been one of the Death Eaters. Or perhaps several cornered him. Apparently it happened on one of the towers - I don't know that there were many witnesses. They've just fetched his body."

Leah felt numb. She was having a hard time processing everything that had happened. Not only had the security of Hogwarts been breached in the middle of the night, but the wizard she and others had most trusted and relied upon was dead. Soon she was in a similar state to Madam Pomfrey. Neither of them could really think of anything to say. Finally, Madam Pomfrey told her that since the situation was under control, she could go back to bed if she wanted to.

"Not like I'll get much sleep," she muttered, but thought she would try anyway.

The quiet voices in the infirmary hushed as she passed by. For some reason she sensed that a few of them were looking at her, but she kept right on going.

She was right about sleep. She tossed and turned for the rest of the night, and woke feeling utterly unrefreshed.

* * *

Hogwarts was unofficially closed for mourning the next day. News had spread, classes were canceled, and Leah was in and out of the infirmary, but spent most of the time with Professor Sprout working in the greenhouses and collecting ingredients for potions.

"I just can't make myself believe it," Professor Sprout was saying. "I feel like I need to see him before I believe this isn't some huge practical joke."

"I know. It doesn't seem possible."

Before long, preparations were underway for the funeral. Leah got roped into helping with setup, and felt like she didn't get a chance to breathe all day.

The day of the funeral was probably the most populated she had seen Hogwarts. There were all kinds of people there, including some she had not seen in a long time. She was able to do some visiting, but soon felt tired of talking. She hated how often her mind reverted to Snape, and hated that she really truly wished she could talk to him, just for five minutes. He would reassure her, and help put a stop to her likely unfounded worries. But she didn't see him anywhere. "Not that I'm looking for him!" she reminded herself. Of course, in a place as packed as the funeral, she was surprised she happened to see anyone she knew at all.

Tonks waved her over as people were getting seated, and Leah sat with her and Remus. She gave Leah a hug and asked how she was doing. "As well as anyone, I suppose," she answered. The ceremony itself was beautiful and sad. Leah thought back to all her encounters with Dumbledore. How kind he always was to her. How he never once implied that her Muggle-born status would at all stand in the way of her education or ability to pursue a career in the Magical world. How he seemed genuinely glad to see people even when she was sure he was tired. How he gave and gave and gave. There was so much she didn't know, but as she wiped tears away with her handkerchief, she was reminded of how privileged she was to have known Dumbledore, even for a short while in the grand scheme of things.

"We're going to get lunch in Hogsmeade," Tonks told her after the funeral ended and people began streaming out. "Want to join us?"

"Sure," said Leah. "I could definitely use some time with friends."

Leah, Tonks, Remus, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Sprout found themselves a table at The Tawny Owl. Leah listened as Tonks and Remus recalled the story of the night of the battle to Professor Sprout, who Leah guessed had probably heard as few details as she had.

"Apparently, there was a passageway through a wardrobe of sorts at a shop on Diagon Alley," Tonks was saying. "And that's how the Death Eaters got in. It had been broken, but one of the students, son of a Death Eater, fixed it."

"How did Bill get there?" Leah asked. "I thought he worked at Gringott's or something."

"Oh, he does, but, he's sometimes on call for emergencies."

"I see."

Leah didn't want to ask her burning question out loud, but tried to quietly direct it to Tonks instead.

"So, did Snape help to get rid of the Death Eaters? I haven't seen him around lately."

She sensed the table had somehow grown quiet, and that others had turned to look at her.

"Oh dear..." Tonks whispered. "Did no one tell you?"

"What? Tell me what? Is he okay?" she asked suddenly, trying not to sound desperate.

Tonks looked stricken. "Leah, I'm so sorry for you to find out this way. I honestly thought you knew already."

"Knew WHAT?"

Tonks swallowed uncomfortably. "Snape killed Dumbledore."

Leah felt the color draining out of her face. It was as if she'd been doused in ice water. She couldn't even begin to make sense of this, and immediately tried to come up with any reason why it couldn't be true.

"No... he couldn't have! Did you see it?"

"Well, no. In fact, the only witness here as far as we know was Harry Potter. But he told us all about what he saw. I think the news has been kept fairly quiet for now."

"But, but, how could he? Was he sure it was him? Couldn't he be captured somewhere and someone be using polyjuice potion to impersonate him?" Leah realized she was grasping at straws, but didn't care.

"I did think of that," Tonks admitted. "But when I mentioned it to Harry, he said that as he was chasing after them on the grounds, he and Snape were having a back-and-forth, and Snape at one point mentioned a piece of information that only Snape would have known."

Leah tried to picture the man she thought she knew, waving his wand at Dumbledore and uttering... but no, she couldn't finish the thought. It was just too awful.

Tonks put her arm around her. "I'm so sorry, dear. I think you'll need some time to process all this. The rest of us are still shocked as well."

"I certainly didn't see this coming," Professor McGonagall admitted somberly, shaking her head. "It feels as if we've lost two important Hogwarts staff members, not just one."

Leah didn't have anything to say. She listened as the conversation picked back up. Others shared their astonishment and disappointment, how they hadn't seen it coming either, and so on and so forth. But it didn't make her feel any better.

* * *

Leah tossed and turned in her bed again that night. Her mind kept reverting to the conversations she had had with Snape about love and magic and philosophy and everything else that had never once given her any indication that his views were still those of a Death Eater. "Either he's one of the greatest actors I've known, or else... some new kind of evil." She just couldn't make sense of it. She tried to think back on any signs she might have missed. Then she tried to convince herself that she'd suspected it all along, and that it didn't really hurt all that much. But she couldn't really fool herself. She hadn't known, and it did hurt. Very much.


	11. Summer at Hogwarts

"This should tide us over for years!" exclaimed Leah, as she placed another box of harvested coveberries in the cellar storage room of Hogwarts, not far from the greenhouses. Coveberries had to be harvested delicately, and it was a hot August day, which made the work even more tedious. But it was their first crop, and Leah was proud of the yield after all the work that had gone into them. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and grabbed another empty box. She was grateful to be done with the hot, stuffy school robes for the summer - it was nice to be able to garden in just a pair of ripped jeans and a stained white camisol, with a large hat to keep the sun off.

She was glad for a break, and sat down to drink some water. She had also been helping to supervise the interns who were doing undergraduate work at St. Mungo's herbology department.

"Goodness, but it is warm today," panted Professor Sprout, and she carried another box down. "About five more and we'll be nearly to the end of this harvest," she said, in a relieved tone. Once they were back outside and within earshot of everyone, Professor Sprout announced that because it was Friday and they'd all worked so hard, she'd be letting them off for the day two hours earlier than usual. There was a great cheer, and a chatter from the students, who quickly went to work to finish their tasks.

Hogwarts was rather quiet in the summer. Most of the teachers were gone until the start of term, and Professor Sprout was usually the only one who stayed to supervise the outdoor garden work, since this was the time that most of it got done. Leah was looking forward to the start of term, but also greatly enjoyed the more subdued pace. The castle was almost deserted most of the time, and made the evenings and weekends feel much more relaxing. She felt tired but invigorated after a day of physical labor, but enjoyed brewing potions on rainy days, to replenish the infirmary's supply.

To make the day better, Tonks and Remus had dropped by briefly. They had been married earlier in the summer and that was the first time Leah had seen her since. Tonks also whispered something to her while they were hugging - that she was pregnant. She seemed very excited, and Leah was so happy for both of them. Remus had seemed a bit aloof though.

Once she was out for the day, Leah knew exactly how she wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon. It was such a peaceful, sunny day, and she was so hot and sticky after all the bending over and lugging, that she knew of only one place that would make it all better. She walked back up to her room, which was quite stuffy and hot, and quickly changed into her bikini. Grabbing a towel, she walked down to the lake and slipped into the water.

The cool ripples washed over her skin, cleansing and cooling her down immediately. After swimming a few laps, she was content to just float on her back and gaze at the sky. She remembered once swimming there as a student, and she and her friend Celeste were absolutely convinced they were going to see a merman - perhaps after experiencing a certain degree of disappointment with boys their own age. They imagined mermen would fall in love with them and transform them into mermaids to live in their underwater castle with them forever. It was a nice thought - sometimes she wasn't sure it was such a bad idea.

Feeling cool and refreshed, she climbed out and lay down on her towel, basking in the sun as it dried off her skin without making her overheated. Overall it was a lovely afternoon.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Leah was getting ready to go out with some of the staff. She hadn't planned on getting all dressed up, but she was feeling nice and wanted to look nice, so she found her favorite bra, a deep purple, and threw on a light, flowy ivory shirt over it. Then she put on a brown velvety skirt, and decided that was dressed up enough. Her motivation could only last so long. She put her long hair up in a ponytail, and quickly headed out the door.

Leah, Professor Sprout, and Madam Hooch met up with Professor McGonagall at The Three Broomsticks.

"Glad you could join us, Leah," said Minverva.

"Yeah," said Madam Hooch. "Wouldn't have thought a young one like you would want to be seen with us hags on a Friday night!"

"Oh goodness!" Leah laughed. "Why not?"

"Well, there are a fair amount of actual university students in town tonight."

"Eh... they all seem so young to me now. Not to sound like a snob."

"I know what you mean," said Minerva. "It changes quickly, doesn't it?"

"Yes. I honestly feel like I have more in common with adults twice my age than students a few years younger. Doesn't bother me!"

"So Mona," Minerva asked Professor Sprout after a pause, "I hear you're way ahead of the curve this year."

"Yes, we've almost entirely harvested the coveberries. The crop was early this year. The mandrakes are in and the new ones are planted. We're on track to have the Birds-of-Paradise in bloom come September, *and* the morifruit will be ready any day. I'm really pleased with the work we've done." They discussed herbology progress for a few more minutes, then Madam Hooch asked "Any news from the world these days? I get so sheltered when Poppy isn't here to pass me information."

"More troubles with You-Know-Who," Minerva said, somberly. "Suspicious deaths and disappearances. This time it was Janet Overbeck. Did you ever meet her?"

"I've heard the name, but no."

Minerva shook her head. "We can't think of any reason why she would have been targeted, but it was awfully suspicious."

Leah listened as they all began to recount stories from the previous war against Voldemort. That was a piece of Magical history that Leah had just missed. When it had been going on, she had not yet had any idea that there was such a place called Hogwarts. All the way through school, she had heard stories from classmates who'd lost parents, aunts, uncles, and friends in the conflict. To her it had seemed very sad, but also like distant history. Now to see these terrible acts repeating themselves, and to know that no one knew for sure how to put a stop to it... was terrifying.

It had been a good evening out, and Leah was glad she went. She enjoyed listening to her colleagues and getting to know them a bit better. She walked back up to Hogwarts with Professor Sprout, and also with Madam Hooch who had had a few drinks and was talking a blue streak all the way to the castle. It was mostly about her great-aunt Mabel, a witch with one eye and a newt that told dirty jokes.

Finally, Leah bid them goodnight and walked up to her chamber. The castle had cooled down a bit, but she was sure that her chamber, windowless as it was, would still be quite stuffy, and she was right. She walked in the door and felt the heat ooze out at her. Quickly dropping her bag, she turned on the light and then whipped off her sweaty shirt. She was reaching down to unzip her skirt when she thought she saw movement. She looked up.

Severus Snape was in her room.

She was so shocked she almost couldn't move, but then she got angry.

"You!" she said with derision. "I thought I smelled something."

Snape gave an amused laugh. "Did you?" Enraptured for a brief moment at hearing his voice again, Leah tried to reach for the wand in her bag, which was on the floor. But he was too quick for her. Suddenly, she was completely paralyzed from head to toe, and rising up into the air. He set her down gently on the bed and, still holding his wand out, walked over to the foot of the bed. Leah had a feeling she was showing a fair amount of cleavage, having been in the process of bending over.

"It's nice to see you again, Miss Hightower. As I'm anticipating a conversation rather than a monologue, I'm going to release you in just a moment. I'd just prefer that you leave your wand alone for right now. Please? Thank you."

Leah felt herself unparalyze, and quickly shifted to prop herself up on her elbows.

"You killed Dumbledore!" she shouted at him, then glanced warily at the door, wondering how far her voice had carried.

"It's true, I did. And don't worry about noise. I've already soundproofed the place."

"You always were a charm-ing one, weren't you?" she spat.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Oh Leah, that's one of the things I miss the most about living with you - having to hear all those terrible magic puns," he sneered.

"Why are you here?" she demanded. "If you want to kill me, go ahead. I'll give you a clean shot." She sat up on the bed and held her arms out to the side. Dying in my best bra at least, she thought half-seriously.

Snape smirked at her, but then looked serious. "No, Leah, I didn't come here to kill you. I came here to save your life."


	12. Into Hiding

Snape's statement made Leah pause. He had come all the way back to Hogwarts after murdering Dumbledore, and he somehow wanted to save her rather than kill her too?

"Save my life?" Leah asked, skeptically. "Why do you think I need saving?"

"First of all, I need to put on my teacher voice and lecture you about something," said Snape. Leah secretly wondered when he wasn't in his teacher voice, but decided not to interject anything. "What were you doing spending half the afternoon in the lake with nary a wand in sight?" he demanded.

"I was cooling off!" she defended. "It was a hot day."

"I understand that, but does a string bikini really afford all that much space to store a wand?"

"So you came all the way back here to criticize my clothing choices-"

"I am in full support of your choice of apparel, or lack thereof - what I'm not in support of is you going anywhere or doing anything without your wand within easy reach _at all times!_ "

"How do you know this anyway?" she asked.

"I can have house elf friends too, you know."

"Okay, you're right, I forgot my wand," she confessed. "I won't do it again. But really, why are you so convinced my life is somehow in danger?"

"Because," Snape said, severely, "The Dark Lord is mere days away from taking over the Ministry of Magic. Once he does, he plans to institute a registry for all Muggle-born wizards and witches - anyone who is unable to sufficiently prove their ancestry. Tell me, Leah, who is your closest witch or wizard relative?"

"Well... we think one of my great-grandfathers-"

"That won't be good enough!"

Leah looked startled.

"Many Muggle-born witches and wizards are or will be going into hiding, and I'm here to advise you to do the same," he said, quietly but forcefully.

"But," she sputtered, "This is Hogwarts! I've always been safe here..." she suddenly remembered that that safety had been breached not all that long ago. "Is the Dark Lord really going to come all the way here just to murder me?"

"He's already murdered Charity Burbage."

Leah gasped. She had heard of the disappearance of the Hogwarts teacher - in fact, her name had come up that very evening during the discussion at The Three Broomsticks.

"I was there, and I saw it happen, powerless to do anything."

Leah suddenly jolted back to the present. "But why on earth should I take any kind of advice from you? You killed Dumbledore!"

"I did," admitted Snape. "And it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

"HAD to do?"

"He was dying, and would have passed very soon anyway. He was under the effects of a very powerful curse brought on by trying to destroy a Dark object, and was very weak. You remember seeing his blackened hand?" Leah had forgotten, but could immediately picture it once he said it. "And he decided it would be better for me to be the one to cast the fatal spell and keep my cover. Otherwise someone else would have done it and I'd be dead too - and then two of us would be dead instead of just one."

"Your cover... so... you were a double agent?"

"Yes. Am."

"Or... a triple agent," she pondered, confusedly. "And that's why you didn't tell me where you were on the night we collided in the mud?"

"Good memory, and yes."

It actually made sense. Leah was terribly confused and while she desperately wanted to believe him, she was also afraid she was overlooking something.

"So..." she said, slowly, "Who else knows you're a double agent?"

"At this point, only you. The other teachers believe I'm their enemy now, and it has to be that way, for their protection as well as my own."

Seeing his face again, and hearing his earnest, silky voice brought her back to their many fireside conversations, and she saw him again as the man she'd always thought he was.

All she could think of to say was "Why me?"

Snape was silent for a moment, and his eyebrows lowered slightly in thought. His piercing eyes had been watching her the whole time, and she had noticed with some degree of satisfaction that he hadn't always had an easy time keeping his eyes on her face.

"Because your safety is of great concern to me. As it has been ever since we lived together."

She couldn't believe she was hearing this. The sincerity of his voice, and his actually referring to their enchantment as simply "living together" rather than some kind of tedious prison.

"I thought you hated it. I thought you hated living with me."

"You had to. If word got back to the Dark Lord that Severus Snape was actually enjoying the company of a you-know-what, well... we'd both be in big trouble."

"You didn't tell him?"

"I did. But I told him exactly what I wanted him and everyone else to believe - that it was simply an inconvenient and unfortunate mistake, and I wanted to be free of it as soon as possible. Of course, that was entirely true at first... I certainly didn't orchestrate my student's misdeeds, and was just as annoyed as I acted in the beginning. But... it... became more than that to me over time. I just couldn't tell you."

"But I made you really angry before I left," she said meekly. It felt good to finally acknowledge the fight.

"Yes..." Snape replied, slowly. "And I was genuinely angry. We both said some regrettable things, I'm sure. I wanted to just stay angry at you and forget it all. But I couldn't. I kept thinking about it... and you. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized you were probably on the right track."

"Oh..." was all she could think of to say.

"Well, someone had to say it. Yes, I admit it, I can be terribly insecure. I push people away, I tear people down, I live in the past because it's easier. And I don't know... I don't know exactly how this will go. There are more things you need to know that I don't have time to explain right now. I can't be away too long tonight. But I do want to offer you protection. If you want it, we'll have to leave very soon."

"Where are we going?" Leah asked, standing up.

Snape smiled, looking relieved. "There's a tent I've set up, in the Scottish wilderness. It's soundproof, invisible, with plenty of protective charms, and should be good protection for you. It may start to get tedious after a while, but I promise to bring you lots of books."

Now it was Leah's turn to smile.

"First off, you should write a letter to the Hogwarts staff. Don't tell them where you are, just say that you are safe and in hiding. They'll understand soon enough." He produced a quill and piece of parchment, and Leah quickly did as he suggested, leaning over her small night-side table. She once again got the distinct feeling that he was gazing at her.

"Now," he said, "Put all your clothes and anything else you'll need into this backpack. Only leave things behind if you're okay with not seeing them again. Don't worry, it will hold quite a bit. Oh, and by the way... we'll be flying for a little ways, and it can be a bit chilly up there..."

She understood his meaning, and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a pink babydoll T-shirt. Then she began filling the bag. It didn't take long, and no matter how much she put in, the bag never got too full. Finally, she had finished. She surveyed the room, and very little was left except furniture and bedding.

"Ready?" Snape asked, producing a broom from the bathroom.

"Ready," she said.

"All right. Climb on. And hold on tight. Please."

Leah smiled again, and climbed on behind him with the backpack on her back. She reached her arms around his waist, and felt the old tingling feeling flow through her again. Soon the broom had risen, and Snape had quickly opened the door with a wave of his wand, and also quietly shattered the glass in the window across the hallway.

"Here we go," he said as they zipped through both openings. He hovered for a moment to close the door and repair the window, and then they were off. It was one of the most exhilarating feelings Leah had ever felt. She clung tighter to him as they sped up, and whizzed through the air, her hair flowing out behind her in the breeze. It was well after midnight, and there was no moon, so the conditions were perfect for a getaway.

It was glorious to be near him and to feel him move as he turned and directed the broom. She wanted to just stay close to him like that forever, but all too soon she felt their descent toward the outskirts of Hogsmeade. She leaned her head against his back as they descended, and before long they were on the ground. She reluctantly let go of him and climbed off the broom.

"Now," he said in a pleasant voice. "Hold onto my arm tightly, and we'll apparate." She did so, and felt herself being sucked through space until they reappeared in a deserted-looking wilderness. She saw lots of underbrush and some trees.

"And the thing about invisible tents is that you have to pay close attention to landmarks." He pointed out a small hill to the left and a funny-looking tree to the right, and then led her right through a door between them into an inviting-looking room.

It was one large room with a small bathroom off to the side, and the whole thing had a light, cozy glow. In one corner there was an open fire with a cauldron over it, and a few cabinets for food. On the other end of the room was a small sitting area, and then in the other corner was a four-poster bed with curtains. Next to that was a small bookshelf full of books.

"It looks wonderful," said Leah, happily.

"I'm glad you think so. I've indirectly arranged with Marley to bring you meals. You should call her as soon as you're ready for breakfast tomorrow, so she'll know where to come. By the way, is she your elf? Is that how you're able to call her? I thought she worked for the school."

"She does," laughed Leah. "Apparently one day she accidentally picked up a hat someone had knit in one of the common rooms, and freed herself. She was quite distraught. But there are other free elves there and they helped her get used to it. But she just kind of attached herself to me and I guess she sees me as her mistress."

"So she doesn't _have_ to come when you call, but she does anyway."

"Yes."

"That's charming." He surveyed the room, and sighed lightly. "Well," he said, "I really should be getting back. I have more to talk about, but that will have to wait for another visit. Oh! And by the way: whatever you do, make sure you never say the Dark Lord's name. Not that you'd really have occasion to."

"Okay. Why not?"

"He's placed a jinx on it," said Snape. "As a way to help find those in hiding, since they're more likely to use the name. So if you said it, Snatchers could show up outside the tent in moments."

"Wow..." said Leah, shaking her head. "I will definitely keep that in mind. I didn't realize such a thing was possible. So do you know when you'll be back here?"

"I do not intend to take any longer than a week. But I can't promise anything before then. Lots to do, unfortunately, and I don't want to arouse suspicion."

"I see. Well, I'll look forward to seeing you whenever you can make it."

He smiled. "That's not something I'm used to hearing." She smiled too. They both stood there for a moment. Leah was looking at his face, pondering whether or not to... but then she decided to be bold, again. She went up to him quickly and threw her arms around his neck, watching as his arms opened to her equally as quickly, and feeling them encircling her waist tightly. She lay her head on his shoulder, and listened to his even breathing right near her ear.

She hated that she eventually had to pull away and watch him walk out the door. That night as she lay in her bed, she dreamed she had been pulled into a long embrace with him, all while whizzing through the air together on a broom.


	13. A New Beginning

The next morning, Leah called Marley, who was delighted to see her "Mistress" again. After disappearing for a few moments, she brought a tray with food from the Hogwarts kitchen. Leah was surprised at how hungry she was. She was still thinking about her midnight exploits. After eating, she walked around the tent exploring every nook and cranny, feeling as though she was walking on air.

She found an interesting book about herbology, and read little chunks of it in between getting up to walk around the room and arrange things, or just to walk around and think. She still couldn't believe it. Severus Snape wasn't the evil villain she'd thought he was. Though she told herself there had been a part of her that still believed in him all along. Everything finally made sense now.

And he didn't hate her! But she couldn't stop asking herself what would happen from here. He had even said he wasn't sure where things would go, and she could only assume the "things" he was talking about meant things between them. She tried not to spend too much time in wondering what their next conversations would cover, and instead focused on reading, keeping busy, and awaiting his arrival.

* * *

It was five full days before Snape returned. Leah had just finished a late dinner, and was relaxing on her bed with a book. She had already changed into her nightgown, and was startled when she heard his voice right outside the door.

"It's Severus. May I come in?" she thrilled to hear his deep, smooth voice again.

"Yes, of course!" she replied.

As soon as she saw his black form in the doorway, she jumped up to meet him. She immediately wondered whether she was being too excitable for his tastes, but surely he had to understand that she'd been restless.

His face looked stony as usual, but softened when he saw her running to him, and he welcomed her hug.

"Good evening," she said, cheerfully.

"Hello. We really should come up with a security question."

"What's that?"

"A question you ask me that only I would know the answer to."

"To make sure you're not being impersonated?"

"Precisely."

"Hmmmmmm... " Leah thought back over their time together thus far.

"What do I know about you that you that no one else would know?" he asked.

"Uh... " she decided to tease a bit. "You're the only one who knows what color my bra was last time you saw me."

He gave a subdued smile. "And how easy would it be to guess a color?"

"I don't know. Not easy on the first try."

"All right then. So you'll ask me 'What color was it?' and I'll say 'purple.'"

"Sounds like a deal." She smiled.

"So. How have things been these few days?"

"Oh, quiet. Nothing much has happened. I've read a lot of books. Marley has brought me all the meals, which has been wonderful. She can't stay long because she doesn't want to be missed though. But I'm just very glad to see you. How have things been for you?"

"Oh... they've been. My job isn't really my favorite one that I've ever had," he remarked, dryly.

"Right, that's understandable. I'm glad you're safe and that you made it here."

"Me too," he plopped down on the sofa and she sat next to him.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink? I have some leftovers."

"No thanks, I just had something." He seemed somewhat quiet and subdued. Leah decided to just sit with him and wait until he wanted to start a conversation.

He sighed, and leaned back on the sofa. After a few moments, he said, "So where did we leave off last time? I told you about how I got into this mess, more or less."

"Yes."

"I told you the Ministry of Magic was going to be taken over."

"Yes."

"Well, it's happened. It was kept fairly quiet, but a few were killed, and many more people have had to run for their lives. I'm very glad you got out when you could."

"Right, thanks to you."

"I did bring you a few days' worth of The Daily Prophet in case that interests you," he said, pulling them out of the bag he'd been carrying.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed.

"You'll have to take it with a grain of salt, of course. It's not exactly going to come out and announce that its editorial board has just been reshuffled by the Dark Lord."

"Yes, that's true."

"Oh," he said as if suddenly remembering something. "I went to the Ministry yesterday. You won't believe what's been inscribed on their new statue in the atrium."

"What?"

"Magic Is Might."

"What? For real?"

"Absolutely."

"That couldn't be a clearer slam in Gottlieb's face."

"Oh, I'm sure that's exactly how it's intended to be. Speaking of... I have a couple books to return to you when I'm able to get them."

"Oh good. Did you like them?"

"Very much."

"I was hoping you wouldn't destroy them in anger or anything."

"Goodness, no. I'm not quite Grindelwald, not yet. No, I... was glad to have your summaries, but his words put things in such clear terms and give so many examples, that I think I got a better understanding of what you were talking about. Not always easy subject matter to hear, but it makes an awful lot of sense - especially the chapter about beginning with an understanding of your own self."

"Yes, that section was very useful to me too."

"I'm glad I finished them before the big Hogwarts exit. It wouldn't be safe for me to carry them around where I am."

"Yes, I can imagine."

Snape sighed. "I miss Dumbledore sometimes."

"Oh, I'm sure. He was the only one who really knew what you were up to."

"Yes. And now he's gone. How was the funeral?"

"Very nice. There were an awful lot of people there, and I really was touched hearing all the stories about how kind he was and welcoming. I was very grateful for his belief in people. He never ever implied that me being a Muggle-born was anything to hold me back. I didn't realize how much of a safety net he was to me and so many others until he was gone."

"Yes. He was certainly an adherent of Gottlieb if anyone was. He must have read him."

"I don't imagine how he couldn't have."

"Sometimes," he sighed, "I just wish I could talk to Dumbledore about things again. I mean, his portrait's there and I can talk to that, but it's just not the same thing. You're right, he was the only one who knew everything I had going on. None of the other staff did, and they can't. He just... had a lot of wisdom for those tough decisions, even when they involved his own death."

"Yeah, wow."

"I'd never killed anyone before, you know. I managed to avoid it as a Death Eater, though I did use the Cruciatus Curse a few times. But this was new... and no matter how many times I tell myself that he allowed it, wanted it, and that he'd be dead by now anyway, and whatever else, nothing will ever change the fact that I did it." He leaned forward, his face pained.

"I tried to think of it as just this piece in the puzzle, and I just happened to be the one that pushed this piece in place, and that's all it is, but I still did it. I don't want you to feel bad about this, but it hit home when I was in your room a few days ago, and that accusation was one of the first things I heard from you. I'd never... really had to process it until I heard the words from someone I care about telling me what I'd done. And they were _true_ words, there was nothing to deny in them even though I knew you didn't have all the information."

"I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how much that must hurt."

"And what you said is exactly the same thing that any of my former colleagues would say, as well they should. I didn't just kill him, I made myself an enemy to all those who are really on my side."

Snape was growing increasingly morose, and Leah didn't know what to do. She sat closer to him and kept her eyes on his face.

"That's the thing about being completely on the 'other side' now, is that I don't have the ability to process things anymore, like I used to be able to do with Dumbledore. I used to think I didn't need to, that I could deal with things on my own, as I usually do, but over the last year we've been talking a lot more, because I realized how tricky my position is. And it's less tricky now in the sense of not being so divided, but it's harder to bear because I'm surrounded by Death Eaters all the time, every day, with almost no out."

Snape leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

"I just wish I could talk to him again. You'd think I'd be used to losing people by now, and used to pushing past it and moving on, but this one hit harder than I thought it would-"

It sounded like his voice had broken. Leah gently leaned forward near him, but not too close, and put her arm across his shoulders.

"I'm glad you're talking about this now," she said quietly. "It's good to talk about it, even when it hurts."

"It always hurts," was all he could muster. He'd hidden his face, and she felt a shuddering movement from his back. She kept her arm around him and moved closer, lightly rubbing his shoulder now and then. She wanted to just say something, anything, to make him feel better, but knew it wouldn't work. She just sat with him, and let him be.

After several minutes, he sighed and leaned back. He sat for a long time before saying anything.

"Thank you," he mustered. "I'm glad I can come here."

Leah looked surprised. "Of course. You can come here as often as you want."

He gave a weak smile.

"I do want to be careful because the mere fact that I set you up here doesn't mean I get to barge in anytime like I own the place."

"As far as I'm concerned, you can."

"I'm glad." Though he didn't look glad. He was silent again for several minutes.

"There is other news as well." He paused for a moment. "The Dark Lord has told me I'll be the new headmaster of Hogwarts this coming term."

"Oh! Well... that's good, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose. It's not the way I'd want to be there, but for one thing it means I'll be somewhat secluded from... that side. But I still won't really get to do what I want. At the very least, I should feel more free to come and visit you."

"I would like that," she smiled. He began to stand up.

"I hate to leave already, but I shouldn't be away too long. Once I get situated at Hogwarts, I'll try to make a longer visit."

"Good. I'll be waiting. When are you moving in?"

"Next week. Like before, I will do all I can to not be away longer than a week."

She walked him to the door. "I'm sorry to see you sad, Severus. I can't imagine what you're dealing with right now."

"Yes," he said simply. "But thank you for listening. I'll see you later."

"Take care of yourself." She wouldn't let him leave without another hug, and he gave no protest.

* * *

It was almost a week before she saw him again, but she was glad to see that he was not nearly so depressed as he'd seemed the last time. He brought her another stack of newspapers, and a few more books, and they shared a cup of tea while sitting across a corner of the table while he recounted his move back to Hogwarts.

"Sitting in his seat feels so wrong, but... I do it."

"He would have wanted you to be there, don't you think? Who better?"

"Well, Minerva's the rightful one for the position. But I suppose, given the circumstances, he would be glad I made it instead of someone else."

She wondered whether talking about Dumbledore might make him despondent again, but he seemed glad to mention his name, and Leah hoped he was finding some closure.

"So are you all moved in?"

"Mostly. I'm sure I'll miss the dungeon but I do enjoy the tower."

"So who's filling your old position?"

Snape made a face. "Oh, that's another story. You probably wouldn't recognize the names, but it's two people hand-picked by the Dark Lord, of course."

"Yikes... so you're still walking a tightrope between both sides."

"Oh yes. I just have to accept the limitations I have and work within them," he shrugged.

They both sipped their tea.

"So..." Leah began. "Do you mind if I ask you more about what you mentioned when you came to get me?"

"Go ahead. I was meaning to clarify some things, but last time I just wasn't in the frame of mind for it."

"I don't blame you. Although, didn't you say the potion helps with grief?"

"What potion?"

"The one you take." Leah looked puzzled.

"Oh! That one. I stopped taking that months ago."

"What?"

"It's true. I didn't take another dose after you left."

Leah looked shocked. "Goodness... you sounded so sure that you wouldn't ever consider stopping."

"Well of course. I had to sound that way."

"Yeah, I guess you did," Leah said slowly. "But I guess it makes it difficult for me to look back and know which things you told me were true."

"What do you mean?" Snape asked, looking surprised. "I don't believe I ever flat-out lied to you. Well, perhaps I glossed over my knowledge of the Dark Lord, but surely-"

"Well, I know that... maybe not so much things you said but the way you acted. When it felt like you hated me, it's hard to look back and see it any differently."

"Did it always feel like I hated you?"

"I suppose there were times when it didn't."

"Like when we had conversations and tea? I tried to let my guard down a little bit then."

"Yes, those were mostly lovely. So when the potion lapsed, did things play out as you expected?"

Snape sighed and thought. "Not entirely. I didn't feel more things for Lily as I expected. But I did become more affected by big noisy areas like the Great Hall during meal times." He paused for a moment. "I think... I think the potion left me emotionally stunted, to a degree. I never really got closure after Lily's death. I just put it off for sixteen years. So as much as I hate to admit it, you were right about whatever you said about the potion that night. That it was done out of fear, or something like that. That was far truer than I wanted it to be," he said quietly, and sighed again.

"Do you feel like you've made progress with grieving though?"

"Yes, I think so." He paused. "And it was just the acceptance. Once I reached that point, and it was still the school year then, it became quite apparent to me that while I will still always love her, my attractions had focused elsewhere."

"Oh?"

"Yes. To you." She smiled. "I liked you early on in the sense that I found myself enjoying your company, and wanting to be near you, even though I knew I shouldn't, but it wasn't until I stopped the potion that I became attracted to you in a different way, and when I look back, I see things through that lens of attraction as well. Because you were always kind to me even when you didn't get anything in return. I can see how it would be harder for you though... to see my necessary distance as being in any way affectionate."

"Yes."

"I understand why you never came to see me after the enchantment ended. But when I realized how much danger you were in, there was a part of me that wondered if you would be willing to start over, even though that was far from my primary motivation in offering you a place to stay."

She stared into his tired face. "Start over, as in an actual relationship without your forced distance and conflicts of interest?"

"Yes." He was gazing at her with a serious look on his face. "But there are a few things I want to make sure you know first. One is that no matter what happens, this place is yours as long as it's in my ability to provide it. Even if you kicked me out tonight and said you never wanted to see me again, which I sincerely hope you won't do, you would still have protection." He looked into her eyes and spoke more quietly and earnestly. "I don't want you to ever fear that your residence here is in any way at stake based on what you decide about this. And also... I know you already know this, but you should keep in mind that I'm going to be 40 before you're even 30. And I'm a former Death Eater, a murderer, and in a very unpredictable position in unstable times. And I haven't had sex in sixteen years. So there is that too."

Leah smiled. "Well, thank you for your honesty... but I already knew all of those disclaimers, and I still accept you as you are."

"I figured you had assumed. Just want to be upfront," he said with a playful shrug.

Leah mostly felt exhilarated. She watched his movements and mannerisms with an affectionate gaze. This was what she'd wanted for so long. But she still felt like probing.

"So, I am still curious... why? I mean, is it _just_ because I managed to live with you for three months?"

"As in, you officially passed some kind of test?" he smirked. "Not that it's not impressive in itself that you did that and are still speaking to me. Well, Leah... the enchantment helped. Goodness knows how anything would have happened otherwise. But... I kept thinking about you long after that was over. There is nothing obligatory about this at all. I suppose you're really asking what I actually like about you?"

"Well, yes. I mean, mostly what I can recall hearing out of your mouth is that I'm a Hufflepuff, I was jealous of and merited less devotion than a dead woman, getting away from me was freedom, you don't like my joking, I made things inconvenient for you constantly, and so on. And I know, I know you say you didn't mean all those things, and I do believe you. But that doesn't mean they weren't still said. And it also means that I still don't know what a healthy relationship with Severus Snape actually looks like. I still don't know how you really see me." She watched him cringe as she related some of the statements. But he never stopped gazing at her, and she met his eyes with anticipation.

"How I really see you." He leaned back as if trying to recall something, and spoke slowly but with determination in his marvelous silky voice. "I don't remember much about the beginning, but in a short time I grew to see you as a confident, capable, and kind person. I watched you interact with people and even try to stick up for them when you weren't required to. You often did things for others that you had no reason to expect a return from. I saw you speak so kindly to house elves in a way that few people ever do. I saw you persevere even when you should have given up on me. I saw you find value in so many places that I missed it, even in my own self. You're an amazing and beautiful woman, Leah, and it makes me wonder all the more why in the world you even want to sit at this table with me."

Leah was entranced. "Thank you, my dear," was all she could say for a moment as a subdued smile played on her lips, her cheeks turning a pale pink. "I'm always happy to sit with you."

"And speaking of seeing you," Snape said, playfully, "I'm honestly quite distraught that I missed seeing you in a bikini."

"Oh really?" Leah giggled. "Well, you got a decent show that evening anyway. I should have known you'd given up your potion just by the direction your eyes were going."

"Oh you noticed, eh?"

"Of course I did."

"Well, it was hard not to stare. You're quite lovely, you know."

"Oh Severus, you're just trying to make me blush!"

"Is it working?"

"I don't know, is it?"

"You feel warm," he said, reaching out and gently stroking her cheek with his fingers. She kept gazing into his piercing dark eyes. He reached down and grasped her hand, holding it in both of his and stroking her fingers. It felt like electricity, and Leah tingled all over.

He smiled. "I still don't know why you'd even want to sit at this table with me."

"Because I like you."

"I still can't figure out why. Like you said, I wasn't always very kind. And you know that 'keeping my cover' isn't an excuse for many of those things. I still have a lot to work through. I mean, I hope it's not just that you feel sorry for me."

Leah looked at his face. He seemed like he wasn't joking.

"No, of course I don't feel sorry for you. Well, I'm sorry that you are in the position you're in, but not in a pitying sort of way. If anything I really look up to you. You're brave and loyal and you know so much about all kinds of things, so much beyond my own studies. But you're willing to talk at my level about philosophy, so that's nice of you," she said in a joking sort of way.

"Oh pish posh... 'your level'? If I've ever talked down to you about anything it wasn't because I needed to. You're actually better educated than I am."

"What?"

"I never finished at university. The war came up, and I was on the wrong side, and after I switched to the right side, Dumbledore gave me the job at Hogwarts."

"Oh... well... that doesn't mean I'm better educated. You've probably done far more at educating yourself afterwards than you had at university."

"Probably."

"Anyway, what I mean is, I do not at all look down on you, and I don't see how I could even be in a position to do that."

He smiled. He seemed to be doing that more lately, all things considered.


	14. Learning and Yearning

All through September and into October, Snape visited faithfully, twice a week. Leah enjoyed being able to predict when he would show up. Not only was he still bringing newspapers, but he encouraged Leah to read them while he was there so she could ask questions. There were many corrections to be made and items that he had more information about. Leah was grateful. She knew that he must have realized how isolated she would feel without some kind of window to the world, and reading was how he provided it. But still, he wondered.

"Do you ever get lonely here, all isolated from people?" They were lounging on the sofa together one evening, having just finished their tea.

"Sometimes, but I don't mind. I'm not the type who needs to be surrounded by people all the time. But sometimes I wish I could be doing more."

"You mean against the Dark Lord?"

"Yes. He's taking everything over and here I am just sitting in a tent all day."

"I understand. But I think a lot of people feel similarly, even those who are in teaching or Ministry positions. They just have to keep doing what they're doing and keep their eyes open."

"But at least they're doing _something_."

Snape sighed. "I bring this up because I had an idea. And I'm not sure yet how practical this would actually be. But once in a while I hear about Muggles or Muggle-borns who are being targeted. And there's very little I can do where I am. But especially when it comes to Muggles, I keep thinking there must be some way we could warn them. A whole family was killed a few months ago. Right in their house."

Leah shuddered. "What kind of warning did you have in mind?"

"I wonder about putting protective charms on houses. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does. However, for families that are Muggles and only loosely related to the wizarding world, if at all, probably something more Muggle-oriented would be better. And that's where I'm mostly clueless, because I don't know what it's like to actually be in the Muggle world anymore."

"It could be possible to place a suggestion into their mind, and then wipe their memory of the source."

"Something like that would probably work. But being able to come up with an appropriate idea requires at least some knowledge of the Muggle world, which I assume you have?"

"Oh yes. I lived as a Muggle every summer right up through university."

"Well, would you like to try something like that? I can give you a name of someone, and you could try and find a way to get them to go into hiding?"

"I'd be willing to try it. And it would be nice to get out of here once in a while. I do sit out in the heather some days, but I don't feel comfortable wandering far."

"You do?" Snape looked surprised, and almost angry.

"Well, yes. What's wrong with getting a breath of fresh air? We're in the wilderness. No one sees me."

"Leah," Snape started out in his teacher's voice, but then gradually faded to a less snarky tone. "This is very serious. I don't know if I've told you but the Dark Lord does have your name, and has ways of finding out things you may not even realize. Please don't take any chances."

"I'm not. I just can't stay in here 24/7."

He sighed again. "I understand. No one wants to be in prison. But please... well... actually, I wouldn't want you doing any of this work without more protection. I've been meaning to find an invisibility cloak for you. But they aren't easy to find."

"That would be nice."

"I had a few places I was going to look," he said, standing up to leave. "I'll try not to take any longer than a week."

"Oh, okay..." said Leah. She was up to give him a quick hug right before he disappeared.

* * *

Snape was gone for a week. When he finally reappeared around midnight one night, Leah jumped up from bed to meet him. He handed her something that felt silky and light, but couldn't be seen.

"Oh my goodness! I'd heard of these but never thought I'd hold one."

"There it is," he said. He seemed a little out of breath. "It's second-hand, so keep a good eye on it. If you notice any irregularities over time, let me know. I might be able to fix it."

"Okay."

"And here are some names," he said, handing her a parchment that contained several names of people with corresponding towns. "Be sure you destroy the parchment as soon as you've used the information."

"I'll do what I can," she smiled.

"Do. And PLEASE," he emphasized strongly. "Do not take any unnecessary risks. Be safe. Come right back here when you've done what you need to. Keep the cloak on at all times, especially when apparating. Oh, and keep it on this hook," he said, hanging it up near the door. "You can imagine how easy they are to misplace."

"I'm sure!"

"Oh, and, Happy Halloween." He smiled.

"Same to you."

"I'm so glad you want to do this, Leah. But you should know that I do worry about you."

"You do?"

"Yes. Not every moment, but you're always in my mind somewhere." His voice had quieted.

"I haven't heard words like that since you were under a love potion."

Snape snickered. "Oh dear. That's right. I suppose those can actually bring out the truth sometimes. Anyway, I should be going." Leah wondered if talking about the love potion made him uncomfortable, even though she was sure he'd never admit it. It made sense that a lack of control would be difficult to look back on, even if he was now willingly repeating many of the same actions.

She walked over to him and into his embrace, resting her head against his chest, and could just barely hear his heartbeat through his layers of clothing. After a while, she pulled back just slightly and looked up into his tired face, framed by his typically greasy long, black hair. He was looking down at her and she met his gaze, nearly lost in his serious, penetrating eyes. She felt him hesitate for a brief moment, and then he slowly drew his face toward hers... she leaned up to meet him and felt his lips press against hers as she reached her arms up around his neck and felt his encircling her waist.

His body and mouth seemed tense for a few moments, but he loosened up as Leah brushed her lips across his, teasing him as he moved in for a second time. She thrilled to feel his warmth against her, and when they finally pulled away, they both looked a bit surprised, as if waking up from a happy dream.

He was gone all too soon. "See you later, my dear," he had whispered as he walked out the door. Leah's lips were still tingling and she was already counting down the hours until she would see him again.

* * *

Two nights later, Leah sat on the couch next to Snape, with his arm draped around her shoulders. She was telling him about her intervention attempts, but felt better doing it while leaning on his shoulder.

"I think the first one went okay. I was fortunate to find the man in the garden and planted the idea in his head. He went right inside afterwards, so I hope it worked. The next one, the Connellys, I had to wait a while before I saw anyone come out of the house, but when a middle-aged woman came out, I followed her and planted the idea.

"Then the third one was a flat, and so I watched the door for a while but no one came out, so I decided I'd knock on the door. I did, several times, and no one came. I just had an odd feeling about it, so I opened the door with a spell, and I saw her, Mrs. Levinish. She was already dead," Leah's voice was trembling as she finished. She felt Snape's arm tighten around her shoulders.

"What did you do?"

"I got out of there. But then I went to a phone booth and called 9-9-9 before apparating back here. It's been haunting me ever since."

"I'm sorry."

"And you have to go through this kind of thing over and over and over?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever get numb to it?"

"I don't know if 'numb' is the right word. That's more what the Death Eaters become, if not outright sadistic. But you do have to learn to deal with it more quickly, push on from it, all without losing your ability to empathize. It's not easy. And as one who prides myself on controlling my emotions, I stuff an awful lot of things down. And as you saw a few weeks ago, sometimes it bubbles up."

"It's not that I've never seen dead people. Some people died under my care at St. Mungo's, and the first few times it was the hardest, but I had to be able to look back on it and honestly evaluate what I could have done or not done - what was under my control and what wasn't."

"Yes. That's what I have to tell myself. If I carried the weight of every tragedy on my shoulders, I'd be crushed. You just have to keep re-orienting yourself to face the next one, and be glad for every victory you can get. We didn't cause any of these problems - we're just trying to find small ways to combat a larger one. And it sounds like you got two out of three. That's wonderful."

"Yes, true. I keep wondering what actually happened though."

"I'm sure. But I'd advise you not to go back and poke around."

"I thought you'd say that."

Snape shrugged. "There's nothing else you could do either way."

"I'd imagine not, but I hate not being able to follow up. I learn so much from follow-up."

Snape looked pleased. "Spoken like a true lifelong learner."

"I try. Done with your mug?"

"Yes, thank you." Leah took both mugs and set them on the dish pile for Marley to take back to Hogwarts the next morning. She wandered back over to the couch and Snape reached for her hand, pulling her onto his lap.

"Ooooh... hello there," she smiled. He smiled back. Soon they were locking lips again. Leah stroked her fingers across the stubble on his face.

"I guess I didn't shave today," he whispered, almost sheepishly. "I'm not used to having to think about these things."

"It will take time, I'm sure, but I don't mind," she said, kissing his cheek and then his lips again. She felt his hands stroking from her waist down to her hips.

After quite a few minutes, she leaned her head on his shoulder and rested.

"So, what is it like doing this kind of thing again after sixteen years?"

"Oh, it's wonderful," Snape replied in a tired voice. "Though this is actually very new in many ways. Perhaps a bit nerve-wracking at first, honestly."

"I could tell. But you loosened up just fine." She stroked his chest, or as much as she could without running into one of his many buttons.

"I hope so." He paused for a moment. "You're probably far more experienced than I am."

"Really? No... just more recently."

"How recently?"

"Well..."

"Not that you... need to share anything you're uncomfortable with," he said, realizing he'd sounded a bit abrupt.

"No, it's okay, I trust you." She sat up a bit so she could look at his face.

"I've only had two serious boyfriends. During Hogwarts there was a typical 'guy who liked me but I liked another guy but he liked another girl' pathetic 'love square' sort of thing. But in university I dated someone fairly seriously. I don't think I really loved him... I think I was just excited that he really seemed to like me. It wasn't that great of a relationship, but I learned a lot from it. Well, actually, the learning came later. After that I had a bit of a rebound during my internship at St. Mungo's. That lasted even less time. And then I resolved I wasn't going to sleep with anyone again unless I could honestly say I loved them and believed they loved me. Which was harder than I thought at first, but it was a good decision. I only had a few dates that went nowhere between then and coming to Hogwarts, and no one since then, obviously."

"Hmmmmm... sounds like we made similar resolutions. Just I used a potion for mine and you didn't have to."

"Well... maybe... but I haven't had to go sixteen years!"

"True. And I'm sure you wouldn't have had to. I haven't exactly had women beating down my Hogwarts classroom doors, believe it or not," he said, dryly.

"Well, neither have I! Men, that is. I was a complete geek at Hogwarts."

"So was I."

"I'd love to see pictures sometime," said Leah, with a cheeky grin.

"Oh goodness, no you wouldn't." Leah made a pouty face. Snape kissed her pout.

"But anyway," he said, a few minutes later. "I've had two too. One was another former Death Eater," he made air quotes around the word 'former,' "and that lasted a couple months before she dumped me. And then I met someone else at a pub a little before I started at Hogwarts. And we carried on for a few weeks before she had enough of that."

"Well... so you've had both love without sex and sex without love."

"Indeed. Both are painful in their own way."

They were both quiet for a while.

"Sometimes I still don't know why you're even sitting with an old man like me," Snape said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... you could certainly have someone younger, and..."

"Why would I want that? I never found anyone among my peers who really understood me or wanted to understand the things I was passionate about. Most of them are so short-sighted, just living for the next party. No one else would want to sit home on a Friday night and read with me like you do." Leah couldn't help but wonder if Tonks had had to make any of these same kinds of arguments to Remus.

He gave a slight smile.

"Plus, you're amazing, and brave and it's also because I... because I love you." She had only hesitated for a moment. And she had known for a long time that it was true, but the fear of releasing such a statement was palpable. She felt the whole world go quiet and the memories of living with him came back, when it had seemed like he was aching to get away from her, and would have thrown any such statement back in her face.

His face did not register surprise, but she had lowered her eyes after a few moments. She felt his fingers on her chin as he lifted her face up again, and kissed her.

"I love you too, Leah. I have for a while. Even before I stopped the potion."

"I'm glad," she said, resting her head on his shoulder again.

"Love is a scary thing." Snape finally spoke again. "It is anyway, but in the midst of the rise of a being who hates anything to do with love, engaging in it seems foolhardy. All this extra worry, protection, fear."

"But how else do we survive it?"

"True. I'm not complaining. I love coming to see you. I wish I could see you every day. But it means we both have a significant weakness now."

"I'm okay with that," she said.

"Oh you are?"

"Yes... you're worth it." She snuggled into his chest as he stroked her hair.

All too soon, the evening ended and he left her again. She decided that the next time, she would have to find a way of asking him to stay a bit longer.


	15. The First Time

Severus was visiting that night. Since Leah had so much time on her hands, she put much more effort into washing and grooming. It felt fun to have to think about such things again.

After getting out of the shower, she was combing out her long hair, standing in front of the short mirror in the bathroom. She sighed as she realized just how toned she'd been that summer after all of her physical work and running. It didn't appear to have lasted how she'd wanted it to. Lately she had been putting on the invisibility cloak and going out to run around the tent some days, though she didn't assume Snape needed to know about that.

But she decided again that she looked fine. She had been doing stretches and other exercises during her free time, and that was all she could do. She rubbed herself all over with perfumed lotion, and put on some eyeliner and lip tint.

 _Now, what to wear?_ she asked herself. She thought about him as she pawed through her clothes. Except for the few times she'd seen him in a dressing gown, he had always worn the same outfit. Long black teacher's robes, with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath that had a high collar. So really, all she'd seen of him was his face and hands. He'd seen a lot more of her. It really wasn't fair, she decided.

But still... she longed for him. She desired for him to see her again, and to want her, and she only hoped it was as much as she also wanted him. She couldn't stop picturing his face and his voice and his mannerisms - the way he walked, the way he spoke, the way he touched her. She wanted him. Whatever he looked like beneath those layers of black fabric, would be beautiful to her.

She pulled out her favorite purple bra, deciding that, of course, that must be included. Then she found a swishy pale green skirt that fell just above the knee. That seemed like a good start. Finally, after going through many different shirts, she decided on a black crop top. She looked at herself in the mirror, and couldn't wait for him to arrive.

She moped around waiting for him, and lay down on her bed, stretching out. She looked down at her tummy. She hadn't been in the sun enough for it to be quite as freckly as the rest of her, and wondered if she should change that someday. Maybe she should ask Snape's opinion, she thought with a giggle. _Gah, I can't stop thinking about him!_ She realized she was being silly and giddy and in love, but didn't care.

Finally, she heard a sound outside the door. She jumped. She smoothed her skirt and ran to the door.

"May I come in?" his delightfully smooth and much anticipated voice asked.

"What color is it?" she asked their usual question.

"Purple."

She opened the door.

"Present tense, is it now?" he asked, with a playful smirk. He walked in the door, and looked at her.

"Well, you look lovely." He stared for a moment. She smiled and watched his face, enthralled anew by his commanding presence. "I brought something you might like."

"What is it?"

"All we need for mulled mead - if you're in the mood."

"Oh definitely!"

While he prepared it, Leah bustled about getting the table ready and fetching mugs. She noticed his eyes following her closely, and met his gaze, giving him a flirty look. He raised his eyebrows at her, playfully.

Soon they were seated together across one corner of the table, sipping from hot mugs. Leah felt the delightful warmth spreading all through her insides. Snape had actually hung his robes up by the door, and she saw the trousers, shirt, and long waistcoat he had on underneath - still all black, of course. "Since we're dressing down tonight," he'd said, with a cheeky grin. And interestingly enough, his hair actually looked as though it had been washed recently.

"Well, how goes Hogwarts?"

"Oh, it's interesting. Did I tell you my office got broken into a while ago?"

"What? No. Who did it?"

"Well, the ringleader was Ginny Weasley."

"Oh those Weasleys. What were they after?"

"The sword of Gryffindor."

"Oh my. Did they get it?"

"No. But I made sure their punishment was lighter than it appeared. It's hard for me to exactly come out and say 'Good job, that was very brave of you, by the way, I'm on your side.' I'm planning on finding a way to get the sword into the right hands anyway. Soon."

"Well that's good." They both worked on their mugs while chatting about other news, and poured out seconds as well.

"So did you go to school with any of the Weasleys?" Snape asked.

"Charlie was in my year. Some annoying kids said I should date him because we were both freckled." She rolled her eyes and took another sip. "This is delicious, my darling," Leah drawled.

"Darling? Goodness, don't let the mead overtake you just yet."

She stuck out her tongue at him, because it seemed like the thing to do. He gave her another one of his smirking smiles, but his dark eyes seemed to pierce right through her, though in a kind way. She wanted his eyes on all of her.

After the third half-mug of mead, Leah watched Snape get out of his chair. He came around behind her and, after sweeping her long hair in front of one shoulder, began casually rubbing her shoulders.

"Oooh, that feels nice," Leah cooed. She had to be careful or she'd melt right onto him this early on.

His fingers traced her collarbone and shoulder blades, and then began working their way down her back. She quickly leaned forward onto the table, and rested her head on her arms. He traced her spine down and down until she suddenly felt his fingers on her bare skin as he caressed the large gap between her shirt and skirt.

"Mmmmmmmmm," she moaned. His fingers were coming back up, slowly massaging further until they were under her shirt. He slowly made it up to her bra, and lifted up her shirt for a moment.

"Ah, you were right. Purple," he announced. "Had to be sure."

"Of course," Leah said. She quickly reached behind her head and pulled her shirt off, leaning back to look at his face upside-down, and give him a goofy smile. He had a warm, amused expression as he returned to rubbing her back and shoulders, playing with her straps and running his fingers under them.

After a few moments, Leah scooted out of her chair, quite aware of her own arousal. She turned to face him and fell into his arms as he reached around her, his hands stroking up and down her back as they kissed. She caught his musky, masculine scent as he reached his hands around her tummy and pulled her onto his lap on the bed.

Leah kissed him, feeling his tongue exploring her mouth, and his hands creeping along her legs and up her skirt. He stopped kissing her for a moment.

"No knickers?" he asked in a whisper. "You naughty, naughty girl. Ten points from Hufflepuff."

"Only ten?" Leah teased. She laughed and reached down to stroke the bulge in his trousers. She heard his sharp intake of air.

"Oh you'll be out of points in no time," he managed. She giggled and went back to kissing him, and then felt him unclasping her bra - she pulled the loose article away and dropped it on the floor.

His hands caressed her bare breasts and she dropped slightly onto the bed. He was on top of her in a moment and she heard and felt his heavy breathing as he kissed her down her neck and moved on to her breasts. She moaned and arched her back, thrusting herself further into his mouth, running her fingers through his dark, soft hair.

His kisses went further down, and suddenly he had whipped off her skirt, leaving her completely naked, stretched out on the bed.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered urgently, as he gazed for a moment before returning to her. He was kissing all over her smooth tummy, until she felt him going further and further down. Suddenly she felt his warm tongue on her most sensitive part.

"Oh yes," she breathed, stretching her arms above her head and wiggling her hips to meet his motions. He probed and caressed and pressed. His tongue felt incredibly amazing, and she was so aroused that her moans began to run into each other and grew louder and higher, and soon she was on the edge.

"Oh Severus Oh Severus!" she cried, thrusting and writhing, before her voice reached a fever pitch of climax, and then gradually slowed down as she came back to earth. She was breathing heavily and savoring the moment, before finally opening her eyes, catching his gaze as he stared at her, looking quite pleased.

"That was amazing," was all she could whisper.

"Well, you know what they say," he said quietly. "Slytherins do it better."

Leah couldn't help but laugh. "I believe it now." Slowly she sat up, returning to reality. Then she realized he was still completely clothed.

"Oh dear, it's your turn now," she said, quickly unbuttoning his waistcoat and taking it off, and then unbuttoning his shirt with one hand while she stroked him with her other. She watched the reaction on his face and heard another sharp inhale of breath and slow exhale. Finally she pulled his shirt off, but something caught her eye as she removed it. It looked like a tattoo, at first glance.

"What's that on your arm?"

"That? Oh, that's the Dark Mark."

"From your Death Eater days?"

"Yes. Used to summon him or for him to summon us."

"Oh dear. How do you summon him?"

"I just touch it with my other hand."

Leah looked scared. "Do I need to be careful?"

"No, no," he reassured her. "It would only work if I touched it. You don't have anything to worry about." Suddenly he started laughing. She'd never seen him that amused at anything. "Now that would be one way to lose an erection, wouldn't it? Accidentally summoning the Dark Lord during sex." He certainly had a dark sense of humor sometimes. Or perhaps he was merely giddy.

"Oh dear," said Leah, who laughed for a moment, but was soon delightedly running her hands over his chest, tracing the trail of black hair down his stomach to the edge of his trousers. He was gorgeous in her eyes.

She heard his reaction as she teased the edge and then unzipped his trousers, pulling them off him along with his shorts, and before long she was stroking him in her hand, licking his underside and hearing how much he was enjoying it.

Soon he was on top of her, his bare, warm skin pressed against hers. He eased into her, and slowly began thrusting.

"Oh you feel amazing," he gasped, as he sped up. Leah wrapped her legs around him and tried to match his rhythm with her body. "Oh Leah, oh, oh you feel so good... oooh I'm not going to last very long."

She heard his groans of pleasure and watched his face as he climaxed, feeling his whole body trembling. He gasped and panted as he finished, and then lay his head down between her breasts to rest. Had she seen tears in his eyes? She just held him, lovingly stroking his long hair and kissing the top of his head.

Soon he began playing with her nipple, while she caressed his bare back, her fingers finding the bones of his spine and ribs. He jumped a little when she touched his side.

"Oh, sorry. Ticklish?"

"Yes. It's okay," he said, rolling off. He was definitely smiling. She cuddled up to him and stroked his chest, leaning her head against him.

"Probably you haven't received all that much physical touch in recent years, have you?"

"No, I suppose not, except for the past couple months."

Leah wanted to make sure he got enough skin contact to make up for all those years. She felt so cozy and safe with his arms around her, it was hard to believe the world was in such turmoil, in this moment. She kissed his face and neck while he stroked her hips, and she didn't want the night to ever end.


	16. The Headmaster's Chambers

Leah awoke groggily the next morning. Her eyes felt tired, but she opened them because something felt different. Then she remembered that she wasn't alone. She felt Snape's arm around her waist, and felt him kiss her on the shoulder, seeing that she was awake. She turned around and looked at his peaceful face.

"Good morning, my dear," he whispered.

"Hi, Babe," said Leah.

He raised his eyebrows, amused. "Well at least you don't _seem_ to be full of regret this morning."

"Of course not! Are you?"

"No, no, absolutely not. I'm glad we're on the same page there." He leaned in and kissed her forehead while she stroked his chest.

"And soon it will be time for the walk of shame up to the Headmaster's office, eh?" she teased.

"Shame? I have no shame," he declared in his Snapeliest tone. "And besides, I'm flying."

"Oh, well in that case..." she kissed his smirking face as he pulled off her sheet to expose her nude body.

"You really are beautiful, you know that?" he said, tracing his fingers across her pelvis.

"Thank you, darling. Have time for another go?" she whispered, grabbing his hands and pressing them against her breasts.

He did.

* * *

Leah lay dreamily on her bed. It was bedtime, but she didn't want to go to sleep. She missed him. Snape had reluctantly left her that morning, and said that he didn't know when he'd be back. He said that he wished he could come every day, but there was too much risk of something happening at the school while he was gone, and that wouldn't look good.

Before he'd left, he had asked her something.

"Would you be interested in moving into my chamber with me?"

"Really? You think it would work out?" She felt excited - she had never thought he would go for that.

"I actually think it would be safer than here, overall. It would eliminate the risk of my being followed or seen. The only problem would be if something happens to me without you knowing about it."

"Oh dear. I don't want to think about that."

"Neither do I, but we have to consider what is safest. I would love to have you with me, but not if it would compromise your safety."

"I think I would feel safer in Hogwarts with you there."

"I'm glad you feel that way," he gave a slight smile. "If we do it, I think we should wait until the Christmas holidays when fewer people will be around."

Before leaving, he had also given her another name and address of Muggles whom he had heard were being targeted.

"I know you've had some success so far, and I've heard these names mentioned lately. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to. But if you do check the place out, observe from a distance only, please. And whatever you do, be careful!"

"I will."

* * *

Leah looked at the names, and grabbed for her cloak. It was mid-morning on a Sunday, and she needed to get out, and she also really wanted to help whoever they were. "Mr. and Mrs. Jack and Amelia Smith" were the people who were set to be targeted. She wondered whether they were just ordinary Muggles, or had some connection to the wizarding world.

She apparated to the designated town, and regretted not bringing a warmer jacket. The seasons had changed without her paying as much attention as she normally did.

She walked down the main street of town to the house indicated on the parchment, and then quickly destroyed the parchment. The town was quiet. There was very little noise, and a car would pass by only once in a while.

The house itself looked somewhat old and not kept up. Leah approached as quietly as she could. The front door looked as though it hadn't been used in months. Leah followed an overgrown path around to the back of the house, and noticed that the back door was slightly ajar. She decided she would go in that way and see what was inside.

Pulling the cloak around her, she strode inside. It was dark, but she didn't dare illuminate her wand. The downstairs of the house was quiet and seemed deserted. All of a sudden, she heard a noise above her. There was a creaking sound, and she saw that someone was coming down the stairs across the living room from where she was standing. Her first instinct was to hide, but then she remembered she was wearing an invisibility cloak, and that the best idea was probably to simply be quiet and wait.

The figure on the stairs came further into view. He was dressed in black, and Leah suddenly noticed his mask. He was a Death Eater! She froze. She tried to make her breathing as quiet as possible.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs and seemed to be surveying the room. He looked at the door, and then at her, though she was sure he couldn't see her. Suddenly he lifted his wand. "Homenum Revelio!" he shouted.

Leah realized he could probably see her now. She did not remember anything about this in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Before she could even think to apparate, she had been paralyzed by a spell from the Death Eater's wand. He walked up to her, grabbed her wand, and whipped the invisibility cloak off over her head, leaving her hair and dress disheveled.

"Ignatius!" the Death Eater called. "We've got a trespasser! Invisibility cloak too." Another Death Eater started on his way down the stairs.

"Oh no... think!" Leah told herself. She was terrified and furious with herself for managing to walk into a trap so easily.

"Right then, go on and question her," Ignatius said to the first Death Eater. "He must be new," thought Leah. It made sense. She had read about how recruitment was growing.

"Who are you and what are you doing here!" he bellowed, and then released her from the paralysis.

She sat up slightly and smoothed her skirt. "Please let me go. My name is Jennifer Smith, and I'm an employee at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I just popped by to check in on my aunt. I haven't seen her in years so maybe she doesn't live here anymore?"

"Who's your aunt?" the Death Eater asked skeptically.

"Amelia Smith."

"And is it your habit to visit your aunt in an invisibility cloak?" interjected Ignatius, who was clearly a quicker thinker. He had taken possession of her wand and invisibility cloak.

Leah knew she should have anticipated that question. "Ah, not usually, but I've run into a bit of trouble lately and can't be too careful. Everything's changing and I don't always know who my friends are." _Lame_ , she said in her head.

"You should know better than to associate with Muggles like these!" Ignatius bellowed. Leah made an expression of chastisement, and decided not to make a verbal response.

"What's your position at Hogwarts?" asked Ignatius.

"I help oversee house elves in the kitchen," said Leah, thinking quickly of the positions that seemed to have the most turnover.

"Does anyone from Hogwarts know you're here?"

"I don't think so." _Should I have said something different?_ Leah thought. She desperately wanted to appeal to Snape, but did not want to drag him into this mess unless it was her only way out. She felt a sense of inner dread wash over her, wondering whether she had placed him in some kind of danger by bringing Hogwarts into it at all.

The two Death Eaters stepped away and conferred quietly for a few moments.

Finally, Ignatius stepped back over to her and said "We're going to see what Headmaster Snape has to say about your employment status, Miss Smith!" Leah looked fearful, which was apparently what the Death Eaters were hoping for.

Ignatius went to the nearby fireplace and used floo powder to summon Snape. Leah hoped he was in. They both removed their masks. Ignatius was a slight middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, and the other one was rather large and looked a bit slow.

"Yes?" she heard his voice in the fireplace. "What is it?"

"Good day, Headmaster Snape," said Ignatius, into the fireplace. "We've captured a trespasser at one of our headquarters who claims she is employed at your school, and wondered if you would be able to verify her story for us."

 _Your school_ , Leah said in her head. She hadn't really thought of it that way before.

"What's the name?" Snape asked in an annoyed tone.

"Jennifer Smith."

 _It's me! It's me!_ Leah wanted to scream, but knew that would ruin everything. But if he wasn't able to see her, he could simply answer in the negative and never even realize what had happened.

Snape was quiet for a moment. Leah held her breath.

"The name does sound familiar. Let me come handle this."

"Not that we want to inconvenience you at all, sir!" Ignatius said, but before he could protest further, Snape was stepping out of the fireplace and into the room. He strode over to where Leah lay, his boots hard on the wood floor, his black robes flowing out behind him, his face twisted into a sneer, and his eyes blazing.

Leah couldn't decide whether to be afraid or in awe. She had almost forgotten what a powerful wizard he was. This was the man she had made love to and held in her arms a mere two nights ago, and yet here he was in his fierce and mighty position as one of the Dark Lord's most trusted servants.

"What's her story?" he asked Ignatius, after getting a good look at her. Not a single sign of recognition had seemed to pass over his face. Leah couldn't believe how well he was playing his part. Either that or he was actually a quadruple agent and this was the end of her. She chose to cling to the former idea.

"Says she came to visit her aunt."

"Is that implausible?" Snape asked in his deep, rich voice.

"Her aunt's been dead for weeks. Though Amelia's husband is still around and we're closing in on him."

Leah gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, playing her part too.

"Could it have been a misunderstanding then?"

"Could be, just that she came in an invisibility cloak."

"Hmmmmm..." said Snape, holding out his hand. Ignatius handed Leah's things over to him, and he examined the cloak.

He glanced menacingly at her. "I would be interested to hear the rest of this story," he said threateningly.

"Yes, sir," Leah said meekly.

"Thank you and good work, gentlemen," Snape said, turning to the Death Eaters. "I'll take responsibility from here." He turned to Leah. "You're coming with me, and we're apparating so that I can keep an eye on you."

"Yes, sir," she said again, looking as forlorn as she could. "Please don't sack me!" she called out as he led her by the arm across the room to the door. As soon as they passed out of sight around the side of the house, he thrust the cloak at her and hissed "Put it on!" She did so quickly, and he grabbed her arm as they disappeared into thin air.

They apparated to just outside the Hogwarts grounds. "Hold lightly to my arm so I know where you are. And do not take the cloak off until I say so," Snape hissed quietly, barely moving his lips. Leah hung on to him and followed up to the castle, through the doors, down many corridors and up many stairs until they reached the gargoyles that guarded the staircase to his tower.

"Moonstone," he said, and they swung open to let them pass. Leah passed into Snape's office, and he led her to a door in the far corner of the room, which led to his sitting room. He closed and locked the door behind him, and then let out a sigh and said "Go ahead and take it off." She did so. "Here's your wand back."

"Oh Severus, I'm so sorry!" she cried, and before she could stop herself she felt tears flowing down her face as she tried to explain what happened. He led her to one of the plush couches and sat down with his arm around her.

"Leah, no, I'm the one who should be sorry," he said, forcefully. "I had heard the names in the wrong context and didn't look into it enough before giving them to you. I'm so sorry. I don't want to ever put you in harm's way like that again."

"It was scary. I forget how terrible I am at defensive magic. I was afraid for a moment that you would hear my fake name and not consider what might be happening."

"I almost did. But I decided I had to see for myself. Good thing, too." He leaned forward and looked at her urgently, with a pained expression on his face. "I could never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. I... didn't tell you about the details surrounding the Dark Lord's attack on James and Lily, did I?"

"No, I suppose not."

"I overheard something that I reported to the Dark Lord. A prophecy. I didn't hear all of it, but it was just enough to lead him to them, which of course I had no idea it would. Still, I gave little thought to who else might die from it, since I was concerned more with my own position and power. I assumed Lily and her family were safe, but I was wrong. And I've had to live with that guilt ever since."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," Leah said, resting her hand on his leg.

"It was a long time ago," he sighed. "There's no way to undo it. I just had to come to terms with the fact that I'd been in the wrong, and I've been working since then to do as much right as I can." He paused for a while. "But, you can see why I worry about you. Sometimes I'm afraid that anything I do could lead you to danger, even something less than this. But we can't stop living, I suppose."

After a bit more back-and-forth with Leah listing out all the many things she should have done differently, and each trying to take the lion's share of blame for the incident, they sat quietly for a few moments while she leaned against him and recovered enough to feel somewhat normal.

"Well. I guess I'm here," Leah conceded.

"Yes. And right before Christmas anyway. All's well that ends well, I suppose. Welcome to my new chamber."

She looked around. The room was more lavishly furnished than his dungeon chamber, and larger as well.

"It's lovely!" she said.

"Want to see the bedroom?"

"Sure. Funny how a year ago I wouldn't have imagined ever entering your bedroom."

"It's a much different feel now, isn't it?" he smiled.

They both got up and entered a door on the other side of the room. The bedroom was also fairly spacious, with a large, curtained four-poster bed in the middle, a wardrobe, dresser, and other standard furnishings. Snape pointed out the roomy bathroom with a very large tub. There was a skylight above both rooms, providing sunlight.

"It's beautiful," said Leah, placing her things on the bed.

"What is this, a woman in your bedroom, Severus?" Leah jumped. A decidedly female voice had just come from the other side of his bed.

"Ah," Snape said, guiding her across the room, "You haven't met Mother yet, have you?"

"What?" Leah asked, somewhat shocked. But then she saw that it was just a portrait.

"Eileen Prince," the woman on the wall said as they approached. She appeared middle-aged and definitely had a resemblance to her son, though her face was more slender and her features more delicate.

"Leah Hightower," said Leah. "Pleased to meet you."

"I never imagined I'd live to see this happen," Eileen said in a dry tone, not unlike her son's.

"Well, Mother, neither did I," said Snape, putting his arm around Leah's waist. "But here she is."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Well... it all depends on... er... four months?" he said, looking at Leah.

"Something like that," she smiled.

"My, my... where's my hankie? Well goodness, move me to the sitting room then. I'm sure she doesn't need _me_ breathing down her neck at night!"

Leah giggled. "Your mother's awesome, Severus."

" _I_ think so. Usually."

The moving was accomplished, and Snape put several charms on the frame to make sure no one else would invade the portrait and possibly catch a glimpse of Leah in the private chambers, despite Eileen's insistence that she had never yet allowed anyone to share her space.

Snape then left briefly on his broom to unpack the tent, which was done quite quickly. He conjured up a dresser and wardrobe for Leah, and she set to work storing her things in the new room. She was sure to call Marley to let her know she would be taking her meals in a different location now.

By the time evening fell, Leah had almost forgotten her misadventures of the morning in the thrill of now being all moved in, and being able to see Snape every day.

He was in and out that afternoon, but after dinner he told her he was in for the night, took off his robes, and sat down next to her on the bed as she surveyed her new living environment. She savored the fact that the sheets and other things smelled like him. Probably in a few days or weeks she wouldn't be able to tell anymore.

He gave a heavy sigh. "I'm glad you're here. That takes a load off my mind, knowing where you are. By the way, I've fixed the books, in case that ever comes up again - there is now a record of a Jennifer Smith employed at Hogwarts and sacked this morning."

"Oh, good thinking!" she said. "And I'm very glad to be here too. It will be so nice to be able to see you and talk to you every day. It's funny, I got so accustomed to seeing the gentle side of Headmaster Snape that I forgot you can also be absolutely terrifying."

He grinned. "Scared you, eh? I had to though."

"I know. But you're good! You played your part amazingly well."

"So did you. I was worried I wouldn't. It's not as easy when it involves you."

"You did wonderfully," she stroked the buttons on his waistcoat. "We interact in such quiet environments these days that I don't really see you in action all that much. I don't want to forget how brave and quick-witted and powerful you are and have to be every single day. You're amazing, my darling. You're the best hero I could ask for."

He had sobered, and stroked her hand with his.

"Thank you, love," he said, quietly. "I can't tell you how much that means to me."

He pulled her onto the bed with him and rolled on top of her while she began The Unbuttoning Process on his clothing.

"And you are my quiet place where I can decompress from the world. You don't know how much you've done for me in all this. You help to make me strong in the midst of the insanity," he whispered. "And speaking of seeing me in action..."

He began kissing her, their mutual passions soon taking over, newly christening the Headmaster's bedroom with love.


	17. The Silver Doe

Before long, the Christmas holidays were upon them. Leah was grateful to have Snape around in the chamber for most of the time, rather than out in the office. He even had a few meals delivered for both of them so they could eat together too.

On Christmas morning, he gave her a silver necklace with an amethyst pendant.

"Oh, thank you, love! It's beautiful!" she said, cradling it in her hand and gazing at it.

"I'm not much of a gift-giver," he admitted. "But I know you like purple."

"It's perfect. I'm just sad I'm not able to get out and get anything for you," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Well, one of those is just fine for me. I'd even take a few more if you've got them."

She climbed on top of him, kissing all over his face...

* * *

Snape came to bed very late one night. Leah rolled over and asked him where he'd been, worried that there'd been trouble.

"I had a task to fulfill," he said simply, shifting around in the sheets until he was comfortable. "The sword is now in the hands of the one who needs it."

* * *

They read the news together regularly, discussing the events, and filling in what was in print with what other information Snape was able to acquire.

"So I suppose I should re-ask you something I asked earlier, during our enchantment phase," Leah said. "Do you think Harry Potter is the hope to defeat the Dark Lord?"

"I don't know," Snape said, almost reverting back to his annoyed tone.

"But you must know many things that I don't. You spoke to Dumbledore. I'm not asking about his abilities, I mean is all this talk about him for nothing? Does the prophecy mean anything? Is he really just a celebrity, or do you think he has a chance?"

Snape was silent for several moments in thought, seeing that Leah was not going to give up.

"I... personally... think both can be true. I think there is very much about him that is still celebrity and attention, as well as a possibility that due to his encounter as an infant, he could possess a greater chance of defeating the Dark Lord. From what I've heard of his previous encounters, even Dumbledore couldn't figure out for sure how he survived them, as far as wands and other things go. So yes, maybe. If so, I'd be quite happy about it. Whatever I may think of him personally, I have done and will do all I can to facilitate the encounter if that is what Potter is after."

"I see."

Snape gave a defeated sigh and leaned back. "Dumbledore told me that I see what I want to see when it comes to Potter. Which stung a little, honestly. I like to think I am able to objectively evaluate things before me as well as anyone else, if not better. But... there have certainly been times when Dumbledore has been right. And times when my inability to find closure has... clouded my view."

Several moments passed. Snape appeared to be thinking.

"By the way," he said "Just so you know, if Potter indeed makes it his aim to come back to Hogwarts, which I have reason to believe he might, I will likely take that as my cue to exit the situation. His return will lead to battle, and I do not want to be caught here fighting against my own side. I just want to tell you now. I will do all I can to warn you before I leave, if I have time. But just in case I'm not able to, you'll know to stay here if fighting breaks out and not come looking for me."

"Of course," Leah said, tepidly.

* * *

"Guess what I'm not doing tonight?" Snape asked as he passed into the sitting room.

Leah thought about what day it was.

"Not chaperoning the Valentines Ball?" She couldn't believe it had been a year since their first not-date.

"That's it." He seemed quite pleased. "There are a host of advantages to no longer being head of a house. Though I do miss it sometimes."

"Do you really?"

"Well... perhaps it's teaching I miss more. It does get rather isolated up here sometimes, and with only having to deal with the discipline cases that have escalated to this level. But, no matter. I'm not spending my evening as a chaperone. I'll make an appearance, but that's it."

"So... how's the atmosphere out there? Different? I mean, they still have fun things like balls?"

"Oh yes... it's definitely more foreboding, divided. I don't like it. But they're apparently doing their best to pretend this is still the old Hogwarts," he shrugged.

Leah shook her head sadly. Everything had changed so much in one year, some for good, but mostly for bad.

* * *

Sometimes Snape was eager to talk to Leah at the end of the day. Other times he was more silent and brooding. The weeks passed with their highs, lows, and mundanes.

Evenings of one-word answers and early to bed, evenings of reading and tea, shared afternoon baths, feeling his warmth against her on a candle-lit bed, talks about potions, books, her own frustration and isolation, his problems in the office, her constant insistence that he simply wore "too. many. buttons, Severus!"

"Goodness my dear, are you a witch or a Muggle?" he asked playfully, grabbing his wand and opening all of his clothing to the skin with one spell.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that? Oh this is wonderful," she practiced, and smiled after undoing him again. "Now I can jump you the moment you walk in the door!"

"Oh dear. That works both ways, you know," he said, waving his wand and watching her dress fly up over her head. She was giggling as he helped her crawl out of it.

"I suppose it can get dangerous, bringing our wands to bed."

"That's a book, you know," he said, as she kissed down his neck and pulled his shirt off.

"Hmmm?"

"'Bringing Your Wands to Bed.' It's a real thing."

"Wow. Personally I find we have plenty of fun without them though," she said. He slipped his hands under her bra.

"I agree, and that point is made in the book that you have to know how to please each other without them first."

"You do quite well at that, my dear," she breathed.

"As do you," he exhaled sharply as her hands traveled down his body.

* * *

It was a Monday afternoon, and Leah was putting away the clean laundry that the house elves had just delivered. She looked at her trousers disappointingly, trying to tell herself they were shrinking them in the wash, but knowing full well that she had put on a few pounds since the fall, and even more since the summer.

She picked up a pile of Snape's socks and shoved them into his top drawer. Something got jammed, and she opened the drawer to re-sort things before closing it again. But something at the very back of the drawer caught her eye.

She reached in and pulled it out. It was a photograph, or rather a piece of one that had been torn. She didn't have to look long to figure out who it was.

Lily Evans Potter.

She was smiling happily and waving, with someone's arm around her shoulder - probably James, who had been ripped out. Leah stared at her. She was certainly beautiful. She had bright reddish hair, pale, creamy skin, bright eyes, and a slender figure... Leah was reminded simultaneously of her own freckled face and the fact that she had not exactly been exercising nearly as much as before, despite knowing that Snape had put plenty of soundproofing charms over the rooms.

 _She's a Gryffindor. So brave and strong. Her whole face displays her vivacious personality, charisma, and charm. She's bold. She can attract anyone, from the popular James Potter to the quiet and brooding Severus Snape._ And she did, didn't she? So much so that all these years later, Severus still wanted to keep her picture around, her husband forcefully ripped out of the scene.

Leah sighed. _She's dead. She has been for a long time._ She quickly replaced the picture and closed the drawer. It wouldn't do to sulk like this. Lily was dead and while Snape still loved her, he had moved on now. She was sure of it.

* * *

Snape was late getting to the sitting room that night.

"The students are restless," he said. "There are factions of 'Dumbledore's Army' still around, and I have to make it look like I'm keeping them down, without actually harming them if I can. But I still have to give our Death Eater teachers a fair amount of liberty." He gave a heavy sigh and sat down on the couch. Leah joined him.

"I'm sorry, my dear." She put her hand on his leg, and sat with him quietly for a few moments.

"Severus, I'm curious," she said. Thinking of Lily had got her thinking of Harry. "Remember all those months ago, you mentioned that the sword was in the right hands? Whose hands were those? Harry Potter's?"

"Yes," he said, simply.

"So you actually gave it to him?"

"I left it for him to find. He did not see me or know who put it there. It wouldn't have been safe."

"Oh. Well that's good. How did you lead him to it?"

"My patronus did that."

"That's a good idea." She was silent for a moment. "What is your patronus, by the way?"

"A doe."

"Oh..." she looked puzzled for a moment. "So... a _female_ animal?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I used to be a woman," he said, in a sarcastic tone.

Leah glared at him.

"No, of course not. It's... it's Lily's patronus. Hers was a doe also."

"Oh." Leah was quiet. For a moment she almost preferred his first explanation.

"So... your patronus changed to hers because you love her... and has stayed that way ever since?"

"It's the only patronus I've ever had."

She was quiet again, pondering. He stared at her.

"I'm sure you realize, no one has any control over what shape their patronus takes," he said, defensively.

"Well... no... but... you cast it based on your most happy memories, right?"

"Initially, yes. But beyond that learning period, it comes from within. You don't have to think about it. And a patronus is not something that changes on a whim either."

Leah looked startled. They were both quiet for a moment.

"I don't know whether you're trying to make me feel guilt over this, but it's not going to work," he said, glaring at her crossly.

"No, I'm not trying to _make_ you feel anything," Leah said, defensive herself now. "I'm just trying to understand." She wished he could see that the last thing she needed right now was a lecture.

"Understand what?"

She wished he would drop it. She wished she hadn't even asked the question.

"I don't know," was all she could manage.

"Well I guess I can't help you then," he returned to his book quickly.

Leah got up and left the room, crossing the bedroom into the bathroom, and closed the door. She sat down against the wall near the giant bathtub, and tried not to cry, but it didn't work very well.

 _This is the most pathetic thing ever. Why can't I let this go? It would almost be better if she were just an ex, but she's something completely different... it's like she's still inside of him._

She stared straight ahead, her thoughts swirling. Upset at him, and then upset at herself for daring to get upset about something that shouldn't be all this upsetting.

 _I'm caged. I've been isolated too long, and I can't think straight anymore. So I take it out on the one person who has risked so much to take care of me._

 _But I wasn't questioning him! He was projecting far more than I was actually saying._

She sat there for several minutes, until her face was mostly dry and her breathing more even. She leaned her head against the side of the tub and closed her eyes for a moment.

"There you are," she heard Snape's rich, deep voice pronounce as he strode slowly over to her. His voice had less of an edge than earlier.

He sat down on the floor next to her, but stared straight ahead as well. Leah looked at the wall. She still felt embarrassed with him seeing her like this.

He sat there for a while without saying anything - just sitting next to her. Then finally he spoke.

"I'm sorry for my tone out there. I shouldn't have acted like you were accusing me of something."

"I'm not," she said, quietly. "You're very steeped in Defense, aren't you?"

He looked confused for a moment, but then understood what she meant.

"As in, so well trained at identifying and responding to the Dark Arts that I think I need to defend myself against everything else?"

"Maybe. Not that you were entirely on the wrong track either, out there."

"So what's got you upset, then? My patronus?" he asked, calmly.

"No, I'm upset because I'm stupid!" she cried. "My mind won't let this go and I don't know why!"

"Oh, you are not, come here," he muttered, pulling her closer to him. She reluctantly leaned against his chest, her hair getting caught in his buttons... again.

"It shouldn't be a problem. It's fine if you still have Lily's patronus. There is no reason why something like that should cause me any problems."

"It sounds like you're trying to rationalize things away."

"I don't know..."

"If it's upsetting you," he said, slowly and deliberately, "then maybe we should figure out why, instead of pretending that what's happening is not actually happening."

"You want to try to make sense of my incoherent mess of feelings? Why?"

"Well, we can't always make sense of these things, but at the very least, don't lie to me. Don't give me all this about things being fine when they're not. And if you simply don't want to talk about it and want to say 'Severus, leave me alone,' then you can say that too."

"No, it's okay," she conceded. "I should deal with it."

"Okay. So talk to me. Tell me why this is all upsetting you."

Leah sighed. She decided she might as well tell him everything, as pitiful as it sounded. "I barely fit into my trousers anymore, and I'm not exercising, I'm just sitting around here and getting fat, and then today I noticed you had a picture of Lily in your sock drawer, and I figured there's nothing wrong with that, you still love her and you need to have some kind of memento, but then we got talking about the patronus and it sounded like it wasn't just that you remember her, it's that she's still your happiest memory, still there deep inside you and... and she's dead, so why is this bothering me? I don't know. Probably my time of the month is coming." She sighed, and slumped against the wall.

Snape put his arm around her. She thought she saw an odd twist of a grin on his face.

"I see..." he said.

"You can tell me I'm pathetic now. Just go ahead and say it."

"No, no, I don't think you are."

"Remember when I had this silly idea that I'd be all brave and call you out for _your_ insecurities? Hello! Pot meet kettle!"

He was chuckling now. "I do remember that, actually. Yes, I do remember that woman who told me a bunch of things I didn't want to hear that one time. But you know what else she told me? The same thing I'm going to tell you. You're a valuable person, and not because I say so or make you so, but because you just are. And you're worthy of love, and I hope my own defensiveness and problems don't get in the way of you seeing that." He paused for a moment.

"Lily... was wonderful, but she's gone. All I have are memories. My relationship with her was entirely different than my relationship with you, and I'm glad about that. If Lily suddenly came back from the dead and walked into this room, I'd say, Oh my goodness, I'm glad you're back! Meet my... ah, girlfriend? Is that what we are? Well, I'd plan it out a bit better than that, but you know what I'm saying. In other words, there's nothing you need to worry about, my dear. Lily filled a void in my life, especially when we were children... but you're doing that now in a way she never could have."

"And I know that," she said quietly. "Maybe I just needed to hear it from you. I'm sorry. You have enough problems to deal with out there in the real world, and I don't want you coming back to your chamber to someone that just dishes more problems onto your plate."

"We're all going to have times of weakness," he said, simply.

They sat for a while without speaking.

"By the way," Snape asked, "What is your patronus?"

"Oh, well... I.. I don't know. I've never been able to cast one," Leah admitted. "I told you this was my worst subject."

His eyes widened. "Well... we should probably do something about that."

"I knew you were going to say that!" Leah grumbled. Snape was already standing and beckoning her to join him.

She reluctantly got up and drew out her wand. "Expecto patronum!" she said, with a wave of her wand. The wand just shot a few sparks.

"So think back to something that always made you really happy."

"Christmas morning."

"Okay, go with that."

She tried again. A few puffs and nothing more.

"You've realized you're in mortal danger and a Dementor is closing in - do it!" he said urgently.

Leah tried again. Still only silver puffs. "See," she sighed, "I can't."

"So you'll just die? That's it then?"

"Well, but there's nothing here..."

"I don't really want you to die. And I'm pretty sure you don't either. So let's try it again."

Leah tried it again, and again, and again. But Snape wouldn't let her give up. He was patient, but firm.

"Do you need me to pretend to be a Dementor?"

"Er, no, that would probably just make me laugh."

"Well. Thanks." He paused for a moment. "I know you can do this, Leah. You can, and you will."

Suddenly, his whole being was transformed into black. She could barely see his face. He had levitated above the floor and his robes had melded into black, curtain-like wings. Leah fell back, in shock. He moved around the room, flew over the bed, and came right for her.

Leah recovered just in time. "Expecto patronum!" she shouted. Finally, the puffs of smoke materialized into a giant silver badger that floated up toward the ceiling toward Snape, and then disappeared. He quickly lowered himself to the floor, completely back to normal.

"You did it!"

"Yes," Leah murmured. "But what in Merlin's name was that?!"

"Unsupported flight. I've been working on it for a while now. What do you think?"

"Er... slightly terrifying when you're not expecting it!" she said.

"You have to learn to expect anything," he said, simply. "Nice badger, by the way."

She laughed. "Thanks. It's true... I really am the Hufflepuffiest of Hufflepuffs."


	18. Saving Severus

Late one night, Leah woke up alone. She sat up and listened, and heard someone run into the office, then through the sitting room, and soon Snape was back in the bedroom, breathing heavily.

"They're here," he said, simply but urgently. "I wanted to warn you before I left the castle. I have to make sure they see me leave so that no one tries to break in up here, though no one should be able to."

"Okay," Leah said, fully awake now.

"So... I'll try and be back as soon as I can, but Marley should-"

"I'm not staying here," Leah said quietly. She surprised even herself at first, but she had given it long thought in the previous weeks, and knew she had to say it.

"What?" Snape said, looking perturbed. "Of course you are, there's no telling what will happen out there, and-"

"And they'll be needing help in the infirmary then, if there's going to be a battle. Hiding helps no one during a war. I'm here, I have skills I can put to use, and I'm going out there."

"Leah, this isn't time to be a hero!" shouted Snape. She hadn't seen him this angry since their big enchantment-ending fight. "Madam Pomfrey will handle things, and perhaps when it's over, you can-"

"No, Severus," she said as firmly as her trembling voice would allow. "This is too important. I have just as much right and need to be out there as anyone else."

"I won't let you!" he said, drawing his wand. "Just like Lily, having to jump into the middle of things when you could stay and-"

"Don't you dare draw your wand on me, Severus!" she interrupted him, surprised by her own forcefulness. "I will not be a kept woman anymore. THIS IS MY WAR TOO!"

He stopped in mid-sentence, and looked deflated. He stared at her for a moment, then turned around quickly. All she saw was his black hair and flowing black robes, with a dash of moonlight from the skylight to illuminate the scene.

"I can't bear it again," he said bitterly, without turning around.

"Severus," she said, gently stepping towards him and putting her hand on his shoulder.

He turned around slowly, and Leah was surprised to see the tears on his face.

"Darling..." she said.

"I can't manage it again! If anything happened to you. You don't know the Dark Lord. Do you have _any idea_ what kinds of things I have seen, the lifeless bodies, the torture, the pain that he inflicts on all who stand in his way?" His voice shook with emotion but his steady eyes shot right into her.

"I can't imagine it, Severus," she said, simply. "And I am so grateful for everything you've done for me and for the whole world. You're the love of my life and I want more than anything to be with you again in a world without the Dark Lord. But hiding away in the time of need is not the way to do that. You know it isn't the way for you and it can't be for me either. I have to do this. Please don't try to stop me." Now she was crying too.

"I won't stop you," he conceded in a hoarse whisper. He came over to her and embraced her quickly. "I love you," he whispered. "Very much."

He walked over to her dresser and grabbed the necklace he'd given her.

"Be sure to wear it. Don't do anything foolish, but I did put as many protective charms on it as I know how."

"Thank you, darling," she kissed him.

"And take the cloak. If I don't come back, please let my colleagues know that I was always on their side."

"Okay," she said, suddenly hit with the reminder that he actually might not return.

Leah watched him sweep out of the room with a final "I love you," and then he was gone. She stood there, shivering. It was as if her heart had flown out the window. She sat on the bed and sobbed, feeling as though her bravery was all leeching out.

She couldn't believe it had actually happened. She wanted it to happen. Something had to come to a head. But she had become complacent in her hiding, and it all seemed so sudden to her.

"It's time to get back into healer mode," she said, to shake herself up. Quickly she washed up and got dressed in her clothes and robes, and then tied her hair up so it wouldn't get in the way. She put on the necklace, then grabbed her glasses and wand. She found the invisibility cloak and threw it on, walking slowly out the doors.

Finally she stepped into the office. It had been months since she'd last been out there. Snape didn't want the portraits seeing her, so she had kept herself to the two private rooms.

She crept down the stairs, quickly exited the door, and found that the battle was in full swing. She turned the corner and heard shouting, running, screams, and all kinds of other sounds.

Going down the corridor trying to avoid a dueling pair, Leah looked back at one of them. He looked familiar. He was tall and lanky, and fought fiercely with the Death Eater opposite him. Suddenly, Leah realized who he was - Remus Lupin. She knew she had to help if she could.

She positioned herself near the corner behind the Death Eater, and shot out a stunning spell toward him. It missed. Quickly, she repositioned and fired again. This one hit him square in the backside and he dropped. Leah didn't hang around to find out what happened. She raced away from the scene and kept heading toward the infirmary.

As she walked, she shot out spells toward Death Eaters when she could, but mostly kept walking straight. Soon she came across another dueling pair and recognized another person - Tonks! Leah sorely wanted to wave at her, cheer her on, ask her about her new baby, and so many other things, but knew it wasn't the time for it. She hid behind a suit of armor and stepped out, firing a stunning spell straight at Tonks' opponent and hitting him in the face. Then she moved on.

She raced into the infirmary. It was chaos. Quickly she stripped off the invisibility cloak and went to find Madam Pomfrey.

"Leah!" she shouted, with a shocked expression on her face. "Where have you been?"

"I'm here now!" Leah said, simply.

"And aren't I glad! There is so much to do... here, this man needs magna-cornu ointment..."

Leah quickly jumped in and began treating people. Though emergency medical work was not her specialty (she much preferred harvesting herbs and keeping potion inventory), she had experience, and begin putting it to good use.

Time flew as she worked quickly on as many patients as she could get to. Some she was not able to save. She simply had to push on and do the next thing. There were curses, and all variety of minor and major injuries.

Eventually, she had to help with the transport of bodies to the Great Hall after a truce was called. It was like being in a nightmare. She was afraid to look closely for fear that she'd see someone she knew.

Suddenly she heard a wailing sound and looked to her left as she was transporting a patient. It was Charlie's mother. She was heartbroken, weeping over one of the bodies on the floor - he had red hair.

"One of the Weasleys!" Leah gasped. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the terrible scene. She tried to move on, and finally got back to the infirmary, but couldn't shake the image from her mind. She knew she never would. Students were dying. Not just aurors and trained duelists, but kids! What kind of evil was this? She knew Snape had been right about the Dark Lord. But if this was how things were going to go, it was better to be here to witness and help than pacing around in the tower - she knew that for sure.

She threw herself back into work. Suddenly, a certain time later, she looked out the window and noticed Harry Potter and two of his friends (one of which also appeared to be a Weasley) walking across the Hogwarts grounds. And for some reason, her necklace felt warm. She felt a strange and uneasy feeling about it. There was a lull at the infirmary, and Leah quickly felt that the thing to do was follow them.

"I'm just popping out for a bit," she told Madam Pomfrey. She threw on the cloak after exiting, and started down the hall. Suddenly, she had a thought. She crept back into the infirmary and went to the drawer that she had seen Madam Pomfrey put the life-giving bracelets in. Sure enough, there they were. She grabbed one and hurried out to the lawn.

She had almost lost sight of them, but watched as they somehow crawled into the Whomping Willow tree. She felt strange about it, but was compelled onward. She followed them.

It was a tight squeeze, but she knew they were up ahead. She continued to follow, and finally they stopped just outside a door. Leah crept up behind them, trying not to breathe or make any noise that could alert them to her presence. She watched them pull out some long string-like things, and suddenly she heard Snape's voice over them and, looking through the window the students were in front of, she saw him - with Voldemort! He had a large snake in the room with him, and was talking to Snape about something.

Her stomach fluttered, but then plummeted with fear. She couldn't believe she was so close to the Dark Lord. All she had ever seen were pictures. She hoped Harry Potter knew what he was doing. Surely if Snape knew she was there he would... not be in favor of the idea.

She heard their voices on the microphone-like things the students were using, but couldn't make out the individual words. Suddenly, she heard them tense up and watched, paralyzed, as the snake closed in and attacked Snape, apparently on Voldemort's command.

Leah clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming as the snake's fangs closed on Snape's shoulder. She watched in horror as the man she loved collapsed helplessly to the floor. She wanted to run to him, to hold him, to cry out to him. But she couldn't. Soon, however, Voldemort walked away. When he was gone, it became clear that the students ahead of her were going into the room, and she followed right after them.

She ran right up to Snape and began drawing the poison out of his wound with her wand. Fluid gushed from him, and he seemed to be trying to communicate with Harry about it, though she wasn't really paying attention. She was making progress, but the venom had too much of a head start, and she was hit with the sickening realization that her healing skills would not be enough.

There was nothing else to do. Quickly, she knelt on the floor and drew out the bracelet. She attached it to Snape's wrist, and felt his whole body tremble as the needle pierced his wrist. Leah heard footsteps of the students receding as she speedily attached the other half of the bracelet to her own wrist as she lay next to him, and plunged the needle through her skin.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then she began writhing on the ground in the most horrible pain she had ever felt. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Her limbs flailed, her heart raced, her skin was burning. She felt as though she was being attacked with knives on all sides, as if something was slicing into her muscles and insides. She gasped, choked, and lay still.

Even though she couldn't move, she lay for several moments in silent suffering before she slowly passed out of consciousness.

* * *

"Keep her stable. Gretchen! Keep her stable!"

Leah heard her own voice screaming. Everything hurt so badly. Her body was out of her control. Her arms and legs shook, and she was drenched in sweat. But then one of her hands was caught and held firmly while the rest of her flailed. Then she faded out again.

* * *

Leah could see light, fuzzy shapes. Something was moving, but it wasn't clear and she couldn't make it out. She could feel her arms, and when she thought about it, down to her feet too. There was pain, but she could breathe through it. She tried to open her eyes further, but they felt so heavy...

* * *

Everything ached. But Leah could open her eyes. She saw a window far away, and people were walking back and forth in front of it every so often, briefly blocking the light.

"Are you awake?" she heard a curt voice next to her. She tried to turn her head toward it, and did so with great difficulty. Every muscle hurt.

She saw a woman wearing the uniform for an assistant healer at Saint Mungo's. So that's where she was. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but her lips were so sore and dry that she couldn't form words. She thought back to the last thing she had experienced. The bracelet, and the snake, and ... Snape!

The nurse looked closer at her and grabbed a salve which she roughly coated Leah's lips with. Then she squirted some water into her mouth. Leah was able to swallow it, though it was agonizing.

"Snape?" she finally verbalized.

"What?"

"Severus Snape. Where... is... he?"

"Oh, you mean Professor Snape? Oh, he was here too. They arrested him. I called Magical Law Enforcement as soon as I found out the Dark Lord was defeated! He'll be in Azkaban for a long time."

Defeated? That was wonderful! But Snape... was he in prison already? Leah didn't know what to say, and couldn't muster up the energy to ask any more questions. She just lay there and stared.

* * *

"How are you, dear?" Leah heard a kinder voice, and felt a soothing cloth wiping off her face. "My name's Gretchen," the assistant healer said, gently.

"Things hurt." Her mouth felt looser, and she spoke slowly, but was able to enunciate what she said.

"I'm sorry, dear. We're trying to keep your pain under control. You had a bad case... almost lost you there for a moment. Now, it looked like you were using a life-giving bracelet. Was this by your own choice?"

"Yes. Where is Severus Snape?"

"Well, he is awaiting trial right now. You saved his life, apparently."

"Oh good," Leah said, wearily. "Is he okay?"

"He seemed fine. We didn't even have to admit him. I do need to give you some information and ask a few questions, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, we have you stabilized after a close shave, and we anticipate that you'll recover fully, though it will take time, and you may have some lingering neurological symptoms. But I also want to let you know that during examinations we detected a fetal heartbeat."

"Wait... what?" Leah knew what that meant. "So... I'm pregnant?"

"Yes. Were you aware of this?"

"No, not at all... although... I guess I wasn't fitting into clothes, but... I was taking unfecundio... so..."

"I see. That one is more likely to lapse than gynogo. Did you have fewer side affects with the unfecundio?"

"Yeah, that's why I took it. But I also have very irregular cycles."

"Okay. Well, thought you might want to know that if you didn't already."

"Yeah, wow... I had no idea." It took a while for the information to sink in. "Did the bracelet hurt the baby?" She suddenly felt terrified.

"It doesn't appear to have done. We did an intervisio while you were out, just for a quick check, and everything seems to be healthy."

"Oh good."

"You would think it would be harmful, but actually sometimes a fetus can provide a greater level of power - it's hard to say. Still, not really a recommended action during pregnancy!"

"I'm sure. I... I had no idea."

"All right then. Well, congratulations!"

"Thanks," Leah said weakly.

* * *

Over the next few days, Leah had a few more conversations with the assistants. She liked Gretchen a lot more than Zelda. She learned that Snape was indeed in Azkaban, but his trial was due to start in two days, and would be broadcast on the floo network.

Gretchen told her that he had been the one who brought her to Saint Mungo's at the apparition deck, and had stayed by her for a day and a half, before the Magical Law Enforcement caught up with him and arrested him right at her bedside.

* * *

"So who's the father?" Zelda asked brusquely, during a routine examination.

"Er... I'd rather not... say... right now."

"Hmmmmph."

"She knows," thought Leah. "I'm probably carrying the devil's child as far as she's concerned."

"Well, just so you know," Zelda went on. "If for any reason you felt as though you were not ready to be a parent... we could take care of things for you. Very little pain, very-"

"NO," said Leah, firmly. "Please do not ever bring up such a topic to me again," she hissed.

She felt tears running down her face as the assistant walked away. She was terrified for Snape. She was cautiously excited about the baby, but also nervous about telling him. If she ever saw him again. How on earth could he manage to convince a council of wizards and witches of his innocence without any real evidence? More tears leaked out of her eyes.

But something had changed within her. It took a while to sink in, and grew gradually. It was something she had felt before, but never quite like this. It was fierce, gentle, adoring, powerful. Love.


	19. Trial and Healing

Gretchen proved to be a helpful assistant, and was willing to answer Leah's questions about current events. She filled Leah in on the defeat of Voldemort, and brought her newspapers so she could read the details for herself.

Indeed, it had been Harry Potter. Leah felt so proud of him. So many had died, but without him they would have been much worse off. A great weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Finally, the day came for the trial. Gretchen graciously set Leah up with a mobile unit on her bed so she could watch. She was encouraging her to try sitting up for a certain amount of time each day, and it was difficult, but Leah found she was slowly regaining strength.

She watched the stage as the trial was set to begin. An announcer read the preliminaries, and asked that the prisoner be led out. Leah saw them bring Snape out into the large chair. His face was stony as usual, but very tired looking. His robes were torn and he was walking with a limp.

"What did they do to him?" Leah wanted to cry. He sat down in the chair and the chains wrapped themselves around him, holding him down.

The announcer read the list of charges. Leah couldn't hear very clearly, but heard the words "murder" and "death eater" in the midst of them.

Then the trial began. A couple of women testified second-hand information about how they heard he had been the one to kill Dumbledore. Another former Hogwarts employee told how the Cruciatus Curse had been used on students under Snape's headmastership. A former Death Eater testified that Snape had provided great help in an attempt to capture Harry Potter as he came of age.

It was long and wordy and Leah grew tired. But she forced herself to stay awake. She kept her gaze on him, and wished there was a way to reach out to him.

Finally, it came time for the defense. Snape's defender got up and said he was going to call only one witness: Harry Potter. Leah heard the collective gasp from the crowd and watched as Harry Potter himself ascended the stage. He was tall and grown-up looking, neatly dressed, and seemed upbeat. His lightning-bolt-shaped scar stood out on his forehead. He had a stack of papers which contained his statement, and began to read with a steady and firm voice:

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Harry Potter, and I have been a student of Professor Severus Snape for six years now. Many who knew me at Hogwarts will know that Professor Snape and I did not always get along.

"This culminated at the end of last year when I was one of the sole witnesses of Dumbledore's murder, which was carried out by Severus Snape. I considered him my mortal enemy. But I am testifying in his defense because I have learned, quite reliably, additional information about Professor Snape's position that I did not have previously."

Harry went on to describe Snape's attempted murder at the hands of Voldemort. He explained how Snape had, in what he thought was his dying moment, provided him with memories to view in the Pensieve. So that must have been what he was doing while Leah was trying to draw out the poison, she thought.

He then described the memories that he had viewed, and added that they had been verified by the members of the council. From early memories of Snape and Lily as children, to Snape at Hogwarts, to, most importantly, many conversations between Snape and Dumbledore outlining exactly why Snape had done what he had done, in both the attack on Harry and the attack on Dumbledore himself - that Dumbledore had approved and requested his actions, and that Snape had continued to serve the interests of Dumbledore throughout his time as a double agent.

"As I said on the night Voldemort was defeated - Professor Snape was always Dumbledore's man. Even while living among the Dark Lord and his subjects after Dumbledore's death, he continued to do what he could to help our side while maintaining his position.

"When Professor Snape was leaving Hogwarts with the Death Eaters last year, I chased him through the grounds and called him a coward. I had every reason to, given what I had just witnessed. But now, after learning the truth, and seeing it from his own mind, I have to take back what I said. He's not a coward at all. He's actually one of the bravest men I've ever met."

"He definitely doesn't belong in Azkaban. I know I owe him my life, which means that all the rest of you do too. Thank you."

Harry stepped off the stage, and the room was deathly quiet. The council left to deliberate, and Leah waited with everyone else, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.

"Yes..." she thought, proudly. "That's the man I know. Finally others will be able to understand him now too."

She did all she could to stay awake and stay focused while she waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, the announcer returned to the stage to read the verdict.

After more preliminaries, he simply announced "Severus Snape has been acquitted of all charges."

Somewhere in the wings, someone started clapping. The applause carried and before long the entire room was thundering with the sound.

Leah watched Snape's face as his defender led him off the stage. He was clearly moved, and acknowledged the applause with a nod. Then he was gone. Leah couldn't wait to see him again.

* * *

When Leah woke up, she saw someone else instead. Tonks had paid her a visit, holding a baby who was sleeping peacefully on her chest.

"Oh my dear, I missed you!" Tonks said. "This is Teddy."

Leah looked at the baby adoringly. "He's beautiful." Part of her wanted to tell Tonks her own news, but there would be time for that. Snape needed to know first.

"Did you and Remus come out of the battle all right? You both did so well!"

"We survived," she smiled weakly. "Remus and I were both patients here, but we got out several days ago. He had some bad wounds and almost bled to death, but Madam Pomfrey patched him up enough to get him here. I had a bad leg wound, and still have a limp. I'm worried about how it will affect me as an auror."

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry."

"But I'm not thinking about that right now! I'm just cuddling with Teddy and being glad that Voldemort is gone. And you? Did you watch the trial?" Leah nodded. "That was something, eh?"

Leah realized Tonks had no idea where she'd been for the past few months, so she filled her in on the general events.

"What? You're together? Oh my goodness, this is too wonderful, Leelee! I'll need to hear all the details when you're feeling better!"

Suddenly Leah heard a familiar deep, deadpan voice from the other side of the bed.

"Good afternoon." It was Snape.

"Oh!" said Tonks. "Snape! It was wonderful to see you acquitted. Thank you so much for all you've done! I'll get out of here, think Teddy needs a change." She winked at Leah and was gone.

Snape silently walked over to the other side of the bed and slowly sat down on the seat next to Leah. He gazed at her and sighed, reaching out to hold onto her hand.

"I'm so glad to see you awake, my dear," he said quietly. "I was terrified for a while that you wouldn't make it."

She smiled. "We both made it. That's the important thing."

"Yes, it is." He paused. "Leah, I... don't know how I could possibly thank you enough for doing what you did. That was extraordinary, and ..."

"You don't have to thank me. I did it because I love you."

His face softened, and he looked like he was about to cry, but recovered himself.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "It looked like you were limping."

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. Make sure to ask someone here if you need it looked at. So, did you know Harry we going to testify on your behalf? That was quite something."

"We had a brief conversation, but that's about it. And on that subject, I've asked Harry if he'd like to grab a butterbeer once I've recovered."

"Oh?" Leah asked, looking surprised but pleased. "Just a chance to get together and talk things out?"

"I suppose so. I think we probably have some things to go over... some things to apologize for," he said with a shrug. Leah was secretly quite happy. She was sure they'd never become best friends, but had a lot they could learn from each other, and she was glad that the first step was taken.

An orderly walked by. "Thank you, Professor Snape," she whispered as she passed. Snape paused, looking more than a bit surprised. He returned to Leah and held her hand in both of his, then sighed and leaned in to kiss her. She felt his warmth against her face and felt so relieved, just being near him again. It meant a lot since she was sure he wasn't usually one for public displays of affection.

"Leah, I...I did want to ask you something. I should have asked you this long before the battle came up, but was cynical enough to think it wouldn't matter, which was wrong of me. I know there was no chance of this happening while in hiding, but now that you're free again, and we could do it, it would be possible to... be married, if you wanted to." He paused. "I mean, do you? I mean... goodness." He seemed flustered. "This was smoother in my head. Will you marry me, love?"

Leah smiled and almost cried again. "Of course I will, darling! Once I'm healthy enough to get out of here. But,"

He smiled, and spoke earnestly. "I'm glad. There's nothing I'd like more than to have you back with me at Hogwarts."

"Me too!" she stroked his hand with hers. "So you know you'll be back there?"

"Assuming so, though I hope Minerva is headmaster. She deserves the position. I have a meeting of the board later this week. I would have been back here sooner but there was all kinds of parchmentwork and people to talk to," he sighed. "Anyway, never mind all that. How are you feeling?" he stroked her cheek with his hand.

"Well enough. I can sit up without pain now, and the assistants tell me they want to try some walking tomorrow. I'm still fairly tired. Also,"

"I can imagine! Your body is essentially rebuilding itself."

"Speaking of my body..." she waited.

"What?" he looked concerned.

"Were you there when they found out the news?"

"What news?" he asked, looking alarmed.

"About me... and my... condition?"

"What condition? What are you talking about?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh." He looked startled. "You're... going to have a baby..." he said, as if needing to hear it in a different way in order to really understand it.

"So are you, as long as this news doesn't hinder your marital intentions..."

"No, not at all, but... my goodness, a baby." He leaned back in his chair and stared straight ahead.

"It is a surprise. I had no idea, especially since I was taking control potion. Though it does help explain my bloatedness and emotional outbursts."

He smiled weakly. "I suppose so." Then he looked confused. "How on earth did a baby survive this kind of trauma?"

"I don't know. One of the assistants said a baby can actually produce power sometimes."

"Oh dear. We're in trouble." Snape's voice was still rather deadpan.

Just then, Gretchen came over to check on Leah. "So," she said, "Did you want that intervisio now, Leah?"

"That would be great!"

"Okay, I'll get it. And," she said, turning to Snape "Thank you so much for all you've done."

Leah grinned after Gretchen left. "You're a celebrity."

"Something like that."

Soon Gretchen returned with a magical device on a cart, and slid it up next to Leah's bed. She directed Leah to pull up her gown, then tapped the device with her wand, shooting a beam of light onto her abdomen. Above them, a transparent, three-dimensional picture emerged, of a tiny, still-forming baby.

Snape and Leah both stared with amazement. Gretchen manipulated the image with her wand to highlight different parts of the child's anatomy - from the growing arms and legs, to the vertebrae in the spine, to the tiny, fluttering heart.

"Still strong and healthy," she smiled. "We'll be able to see the sex for sure in a few more weeks, most likely."

After she left, Leah sat dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief again. It had been an emotional day.

Snape sat in his chair, looking stunned. Leah looked up at his tired face.

"What do you think, darling?"

"That's... that's incredible," he finally said. "And terrifying."

"Oh?"

"Well... I... had a rather difficult childhood, so the idea of being a father is... unnerving. Not that I wouldn't have wanted children, I guess it's just a bit more unnerving when it's a surprise like this."

"I bet it is. I had a good childhood and I still feel scared. We'll do it together. I wouldn't want to be doing this with anyone else." She held his hand and pressed it to her cheek.

* * *

Finally, two weeks later, Leah was cleared to go home. "Home" this time was Spinner's End, Snape's summer house. They lived there quietly for the rest of the summer, and were married in the beginning of August.

Before long, it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Leah was packing up to return to the dungeon chamber she and Snape had originally inhabited. She was all set to return to her position in the infirmary, and greatly looking forward to seeing Madam Pomfrey again.

And it happened that Professor McGonagall became the next headmaster of Hogwarts, while Snape was all set to begin again teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, having broken the jinx Voldemort had set.

"Accio socks!" Leah said, throwing them into a bag. Suddenly, she remembered there was something else there. Quickly she pulled out the picture of Lily from the very back of the drawer.

Lily Evans Potter. Gryffindor. Brave. Strong. Beautiful. Leah felt only sympathy as she gazed at the picture of the woman who gave all she had to save her son.

"Sometimes love costs us everything, doesn't it?"

The picture continued to wave and smile brightly, infused with a certain degree of peace.

"Thank you, Lily," Leah murmured, her hand on her growing belly. She returned the picture to the bag, and finished packing before going out to join Snape in the living room.

Before long, they were back to the old familiar dungeon rooms, organizing things the way they wanted them, and not having to worry in the least about keeping a certain distance together.

"Back to where it all began," Leah smiled.

"Indeed. A little different this time around," he noted.

"It's like we had to let each other go before we found each other again," Leah said, sighing happily. She didn't think Snape was one for sentimentality, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

"And I'm glad of it. You're still sure you want to live in a dungeon with me?"

"Yes! Anywhere. Though it'll be a bit quieter for you, won't it? You won't get bored with not having to be a double agent anymore?

"I think we can manage plenty of adventure of our own to make up for it," he said. Leah smiled and snaked her arm around his waist, leaning against his chest. He returned her embrace and stroked her bump, still barely visible under her robes.


	20. Epilogue: Twist on the Cursed Child

Severus Snape sat in his office, marking essays as usual, when he was interrupted by a student barging in to see him.

"Professor Snape!" Scorpius Malfoy exclaimed, breathlessly "I'm so glad you're still here!"

"Didn't anyone teach you to knock, boy?" Snape asked, sneering at him.

But something was different about Malfoy. It wasn't just the alternate future he was going on and on about - it was his whole manner and attitude. He seemed, oddly enough... sincere. As if he cared about something in the world other than himself. Polyjuice potion? No, it couldn't be.

Snape began to wonder if perhaps this wasn't a joke. It seemed too much to dare hope for, but when Scorpius pulled out some almost-unknown factoids from his nerdy brain, Snape was finally convinced that he wasn't making it up. And that meant that just maybe, there was a way out of this horrible world he'd found himself in.

Quickly, he closed the door in case Umbridge or any of her cronies walked by. He decided to bring Scorpius to the secret hideout in hopes that together they could get him back to where he needed to be... and in so doing, change the future... and the present.

Snape quickly opened the secret door at the back of his office, and the two of them walked in.

Scorpius entered a small room, and soon recognized Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. And there was another woman sitting against the wall on a chair.

"Is that your wife?" he asked quietly to Snape, as he closed and locked the door behind them. He thought she was the woman he had often seen about the castle and the infirmary.

"Ah, yes. Well... formal marriage hasn't really been a possibility, with us being in hiding and all. But we are together," he whispered. He then spoke a little louder to the shocked occupants of the room, explaining why Scorpius was there.

Scorpius looked at Leah, and she lifted up her head to look at him while Snape spoke. She looked more different from the person he knew than any of them. She was skinnier, though not necessarily in a healthy way, and her hair was cut short around her face. Her eyes were tired and the lines were etched deeply on her face. She looked almost as old as Snape with his salt-and-pepper hair, though Scorpius was pretty sure they had a decent age difference.

She gazed at him skeptically at first, but gradually came to an understanding of what was happening, as the rest did too. Scorpius spoke of the future he knew and the mistakes he had made with a time-turner to bring him where he was - and to make his best friend, Albus, Harry Potter's son, non-existent.

Ultimately, they concluded, though conversation, it all rested on Neville. He had been killed before he killed the snake, which is what happened in Scorpius's version of the past, and so here they inhabited a world in which Harry Potter had never defeated Voldemort. And of course, the changes only fanned out from there. They were shocked enough to hear that Ron and Hermione were married in this alternate future.

"Us too?" Leah asked Scorpius. It was the first thing he'd heard her say, and her voice was quiet and raspy.

"Yes, yes, you and Professor Snape are married in this world too. And you have four children."

" _Four children_?" roared Snape in mock horror. "I might be having second thoughts about helping you, Scorpius," he muttered, sarcastically.

But Leah stared straight at him with a gaze of pained intensity. She stopped them from moving on to another topic.

"Wait, Scorpius. Who are these children? Tell me about them." The emotion wavered in her voice, and threatened to overtake her. She looked at Snape. "I wonder if... he..." She couldn't finish. Snape dropped his sarcastic demeanor and went to sit next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. He looked up somberly.

"We had a child taken from us after the Battle of Hogwarts," he said, quietly. "Forced abortion. During her first imprisonment."

Hermione gasped. "Oh Leah... I'm so sorry... we never knew..."

Scorpius hesitantly broke the pained silence that had fallen, once Leah had composed herself enough to listen to him. He knew this was the greatest gift he could give to either of them at this moment.

"Well, your oldest son is Xavier. He was a prefect in Hufflepuff, and then went to university for potions. I think he's working at Saint Mungo's right now."

"Potions, eh?" Snape said, raising an eyebrow. He was surprised at the small rush of pride that had begun swelling inside him.

"And then your oldest daughter is Stella. She was a prefect in Slytherin, and is training right now to be an auror."

Leah's eyes grew wide. She could only think of the danger involved in such a career, but felt her own surge of pride, especially when thinking of her late friend Tonks.

"And then you have twins, who are also in Slytherin. They're... uh, not prefects," he said with a bit of a grin, "But they're a lot of fun. Jane and Julian. They're two years ahead of me at Hogwarts."

"Well, I guess I win," Snape said, proudly, looking at Leah. "Three out of four."

"We'll help you, Scorpius," Leah said, determinedly, ignoring Snape's comments.

"Even if we were all dead in this future, it would be worth it," Snape added. "But... this sounds a whole lot better than celebrating Voldemort Day in hiding."

"Or celebrating it at all," Hermione remarked, dryly.

"Of course."

They made their way out of hiding once it had been decided what they'd do.

One by one, they sacrificed their lives to bring Scorpius safely back to his time-turner and restore the proper future to the world. As Snape and Leah ran with him before their untimely ends, they cast simultaneous patronuses at the approaching Dementors. Scorpius watched as the two silver bats flitted up against them and then disappeared.

* * *

Severus Snape woke up suddenly. He turned around in bed, trying to get his bearings, and groped for his wand on the night stand. Suddenly he came back to the present, with a sigh of relief. But his motions had been enough to wake Leah.

"What's going on?" she murmured, groggily.

"Nothing. Just a dream," he whispered. She rolled over and he spooned up against her, his hand stroking her growing tummy.

"By the way," he said, "what do you think of the name 'Xavier'?"


End file.
